Voisey’s Bay History
The original mineral discovery at Voisey’s Bay was made in late 1993 while conducting a regional exploration program by Archean, under contract to Robert Friedland’s Diamond Fields Resources; the geologists noticed an outcrop at surface. The property was claim‐staked in early 1994 after surfacea samples returned high nickel and copper values. Drilling commenced and grades were coming back which encouraged investors and spectators that the property could hold one of the highest graded nickel ore bodies in the world. In August 1996, after many negotiations and transactions, Inco Limited purchased the Voisey Bay property from Diamond Fields for $4.6 Billion. Approximately 420 diamond drill holes were completed for a total of about 205,000m of drill cores by August of 1997. The Voisey’s Bay Mine commenced production in 2005, with reportedreserves of 17.2 million tonnes of ore grading 2.38% Ni, 1.34% Cu and 0.11% Co (2013 proven and probable reserves). Total resources have been estimated at well over 100 million tonnes. In 2012, at the Voisey’s Bay Ovoid mine in Newfoundland and Labrador, Vale reported mining 2.35 Mt of ore containing 3.11% nickel (73,116 t), 1.94% copper (45,600 t), and 0.052% cobalt (1,221 t). The Voisey’s Bay district is thought to be at its very early stage of exploration and development compared to other world‐class nickel and base metal districts, such as Sudbury, Ontario and Thompson, Manitoba. Therefore the region could hold excellent potential for additional discoveries. Recent advances in modern geophysical exploration technologies add to the potential for an economic discovery.