New Century Resources are in talks to buy a cobalt mine in New Caledonia.
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The owners of Century Mine in North West Queensland is negotiating with Brazilian mining company Vale to take over troubled Goro nickel and cobalt mine in New Caledonia under a proposed deal that contains a financial contribution from Vale and possible support from the French government.
New Century hope to add to their Century mine portfolio by taking ownership of Goro with financial contributions from Vale and the potential forgiveness of French estimated to be worth $1 billion.
New Century CEO Patrick Walta said the company had entered into a 60-day exclusivity period to negotiate with Vale the acquisition of a 95 per cent ownership stake of Goro mine which has been plagued by problems since mining began in 2011, in the south-west Pacific French territory
Mr Walta said the Goro operations include a fully integrated and operational world-class mine, processing plant and port facility with the intention of making it become a global top-10 nickel and cobalt producer by decommissioning the existing highly complex refinery, which has been the major source of historical operational disruptions.
The successful acquisition of Goro operations would result in New Century Resources becoming a major supplier of Nickel and non-Congo sourced cobalt for the electric vehicle industry.
Cobalt is also in the region of North West Queensland close to their Century Mine.
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