Mining
The Story of Voisey’s Bay: Today’s Mine (Pt. 3 of 3)
The Story of Voisey’s Bay: Today’s Mine (Part 3 of 3)
Presented by: Equitas Resources, “Nickel exploration in Labrador”
Preface
The massive Voisey’s Bay nickel deposit was auctioned off to the highest bidder in early 1996 for $4.3 billion. We have recapped the events leading up to the sale in previous parts of this infographic series on Voisey’s Bay:
We show the events leading up to the nickel discovery in Part 1: The Discovery
We highlight the bidding war for the rights to the deposit in Part 2: The Auction
Voisey’s Bay Today
The discovery at Voisey’s Bay was ultimately significant for three reasons:
- The ore was rich in content. In fact, the famed Ovoid zone had an average grade of 2.8% nickel.
- Much of the ore was near the surface. This would help to minimize extraction costs.
- The deposit was close to tidewater. This reduced the costs associated with transporting ore to ships
The Deposit
The Voisey’s Bay deposit is world-class in terms of its grade and size. With 141 million tonnes of ore, the deposit has significant grades of nickel, copper, and cobalt:
- 1.63% nickel
- 0.85% copper
- 0.09% cobalt
The resource is located in the three main zones: Ovoid, Eastern Deeps, and Reid Brook. The Ovoid represents less than 23% of the total tonnage, but more than 42% of the metal in the deposit.
Mining and Transporting the Ore
The open pit mine at Voisey’s Bay, now owned by Vale, has been in operation since 2005. Recently, underground mining was approved at the site as well.
The ore from Voisey’s Bay is transported via the Umiak I – the world’s most powerful icebreaking cargo ship.
- The Umiak I makes 12 trips a year
- The icebreaker rides over ice that can be 10 metres thick in places
- It has a 30,000 horsepower engine, which is large enough to drive an oil tanker 10x its size
- The Umiak I can carry 30,000 tonnes of nickel-copper concentrate at once (worth $100 million per load)
The Future
The Newfoundland and Labrador government estimated that the Voisey’s Bay project will add approximately $20.7 billion to the province’s gross domestic product during the mine’s estimated 30-year lifespan.
Will more of these mines be found in Labrador in the future?
A well-known exploration proverb states that “the best place to find a new mine is next to an old mine”.
That’s why, in a research report by the Newfoundland and Labrador government on Voisey’s Bay it is noted that “this area remains highly favourable for future exploration.”
And as Robert Friedland has said himself:
“Creative people shouldn’t be punished for failure, because in the exploration process we are in the business of drilling dry holes. You can’t keep drilling where you’ve looked.” – Robert Friedland
Mining
White Gold: Mapping U.S. Lithium Mines
In this graphic, Visual Capitalist partnerered with EnergyX to explore the size and location of U.S. lithium mines.
White Gold: Mapping U.S. Lithium Mines
The U.S. doubled imports of lithium-ion batteries for the third consecutive year in 2022, and with EV demand growing yearly, U.S. lithium mines must ramp up production or rely on other nations for their supply of refined lithium.
To determine if the domestic U.S. lithium opportunity can meet demand, we partnered with EnergyX to determine how much lithium sits within U.S. borders.
U.S. Lithium Projects
The most crucial measure of a lithium mine’s potential is the quantity that can be extracted from the source.
For each lithium resource, the potential volume of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) was calculated with a ratio of one metric ton of lithium producing 5.32 metric tons of LCE. Cumulatively, existing U.S. lithium projects contain 94.8 million metric tons of LCE.
Rank | Project Name | LCE, million metric tons (est.) |
---|---|---|
1 | McDermitt Caldera | 21.5 |
2 | Thacker Pass | 19.1 |
3 | Tonopah Flats | 18.0 |
4 | TLC Lithium | 10.7 |
5 | Clayton Valley (Century Lithium) | 6.3 |
6 | Zeus Lithium | 6.3 |
7 | Rhyolite Ridge | 3.4 |
8 | Arkansas Smackover (Phase 1A) | 2.8 |
9 | Basin Project | 2.2 |
10 | McGee Deposit | 2.1 |
11 | Arkansas Smackover (South West) | 1.8 |
12 | Clayton Valley (Lithium-X, Pure Energy) | 0.8 |
13 | Big Sandy | 0.3 |
14 | Imperial Valley/Salton Sea | 0.3 |
U.S. Lithium Opportunities, By State
U.S. lithium projects mainly exist in western states, with comparatively minor opportunities in central or eastern states.
State | LCE, million metric tons (est.) |
---|---|
Nevada | 88.2 |
Arkansas | 4.6 |
Arizona | 2.5 |
California | 0.3 |
Currently, the U.S. is sitting on a wealth of lithium that it is underutilizing. For context, in 2022, the U.S. only produced about 5,000 metric tons of LCE and imported a projected 19,000 metric tons of LCE, showing that the demand for the mineral is healthy.
The Next Gold Rush?
U.S. lithium companies have the opportunity to become global leaders in lithium production and accelerate the transition to sustainable energy sources. This is particularly important as the demand for lithium is increasing every year.
EnergyX is on a mission to meet U.S. lithium demands using groundbreaking technology that can extract 300% more lithium from a source than traditional methods.
You can take advantage of this opportunity by investing in EnergyX and joining other significant players like GM in becoming a shareholder.
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