Koniambo Nickel SAS, 49%-owned by commodity firm Glencore, has evacuated and temporarily ceased production at its North Plant in New Caledonia after a leak that occurred at 6.22am local time on Monday June 24.
The leak, the cause of which is currently unknown, lasted approximately one hour across both of the plant's production lines and constituted a mixture of molten materials from the plant including nickel and slag. It is estimated that around 10 tonnes of molten material were lost to the leak. A 500-tonne molten metal leak occurred in the same plant in 2014, affecting Koniambo's nickel production for several months. The impact of the...