VALE TO REBOOT LABRADOR MINE

Vale SA, the top commercial nickel producer, will resume operations next month at its Voisey’s Bay mine in Canada after halting work to monitor the coronavirus outbreak. Production at the nickel-cobalt-copper mine in Labrador is expected to restart early July and reach full capacity by early August, the Rio de Janeiro-based company said in a statement Thursday. Voisey’s Bay was placed on care and maintenance in mid-march as miners worldwide paused amid COVID-19 measures. Its resumption comes as economies begin to reopen and prices of steelmaking inputs recover. The Voisey’s Bay restart may be more significant for the copper market than nickel. Vale continued processing nickel during the shutdown but didn’t have enough stockpiles to keep supplying copper, BMO analyst Edward Sterck said in a report.