Voisey Bay 1996 Voisey's Bay appealed to mining interests for a variety of reasons. Its nickel, copper, and cobalt reserves are abundant, of a high grade, and close enough to the deep-water port of Edward's Cove, Anaktalak Bay, to allow for relatively speedy shipment to processing plants in Ontario and on the island of Newfoundland. Further, sizeable deposits are close to the surface and can therefore be extracted in open-pit mines which are much cheaper to build and maintain than underground mines, and significantly reduce operating costs.
In the end, Inco bought the Voisey's Bay deposits for $4.3 billion in 1996. The company then entered into negotiations with the provincial government, the Labrador Inuit Association (LIA), and the Innu Nation to obtain mining rights. It also completed an Environmental Impact Statement for the federal government's Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency in which it agreed to fulfill various environmental obligations, such as monitoring contaminant levels close to the project site, controlling the amount of dust raised by the open pit operation, preventing nearby waterways from being contaminated, and developing an environmental protection plan for black bears.