Ramu NiCo: Mine nearing operations

RAMU NiCo’s second sustainability report has been released.
The report presented a world-class nickel project in Kurumbukari (mine) with its pipeline and the processing plant on the coast at Basamuk Bay in Madang province. The mine is moving towards full commissioning.
The report had provided a vivid account of Ramu NiCo’s journey toward sustainability during the construction stage and portrayed its commitment to long-term sustainable development.
Ramu NiCo board of chairman Madam Luo Shu said she was very proud to present the company’s latest sustainabi­lity report.
It was the first nickel development in PNG.
With a total investment of US$1.6 billion, it was co-owned by partners from China and Australia.
In PNG, the co-owners were the state and landowners in the project area.
Luo said in her forward of the report: “Having overcome countless challenges during the construction stage, we achieved a relatively lower investment and a faster completion time at Ramu project, when compared with similar laterite nickel project development around the world.”
“The speed and efficiency can be attributed to our ‘all-win’ investment and management philosophy.
“The credit also goes to our staff – both international and local, management team, shareholders, and contractors, who have worked tirelessly to see this project grow and succeed, in addition to the strong support we receive from our host governments and communities.
“We adhere to the concept of sustainable development.
“We are applying world class technologies and processes with the dual purpose of ensuring commercial viability and mitigating social and environmental impact.”
“At the same time, with significant capital investment in building the project, we are making major economic investments in the Madang region and starting to instill a long term, transforming impact,” Luo said.
She said the company aimed to “professionalise, internationalise and localise”, growing into a world-class mining company by consistently meeting international operational and performance standards.
“This is our mission, and it will inevitably be a difficult journey ahead.
“Over the past two years, we have invested tremendously in our people and management systems to build a strong foundation for success.”
 “As we step into the operational phase, we will be in a position to fulfill the financial commitments we made to our shareholders, and continuously fulfill the social, economic and environmental promises we made to our community,” Madam Luo said.
The world-class Ramu Nickel project that integrated mining, beneficiation and refining cromprised laterite open-pit mining, 135km slurry pipeline, high pressure acid leaching, deep-sea tailings placement (DSTP) and a number of supporting facilities.
The project will produce nickel/cobalt intermediate product, in which the aggregate nickel metal will account for 31,000 tonnes per year and 3,000 tonnes of cobalt per year. 
The large scale construction began in 2008 and by early this year, the construction was substantially completed. The project was now being progressively commissioned and was expected to begin trial operation by next month.