RIO DE JANEIRO--Brazilian mining giant Vale SA said late
Thursday it doesn't know when nickel production in New Caledonia
will resume, after an acid leak forced an outage at its mine and
processing plant there and prompted intervention by local
authorities.
The shutdown, which began Wednesday, caused a spike in nickel
prices on supply concerns. The government of New Caledonia's
Southern Province described the incident as "serious" and called
for "emergency" measures.
A Vale spokeswoman said in an email statement Thursday that "a
small quantity" of the acidic solution leaked into a nearby river.
She added that an investigation to identify the cause of the
accident and its potential impact on the environment was
underway.
Vale's nickel facilities in New Caledonia, a former French
territory in the South Pacific, have struggled with operational
problems in recent years but posted one of their best quarters ever
at the beginning of 2014, churning out 4,100 metric tons of
nickel.
Write to Paul Kiernan at paul.kiernan@wsj.com
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