According to Vale, its nickel plant Goro with annual capacity of 60,000 tons runs well during the trial operation which is located in New Caledonia.

Vale began mining in last October and it said it expected the processing plant to begin production in January.

Vale indicated that they have examined the HPAL autoclave under the high temperature and pressure in order to test the mechanical behavior of the equipments and they all passed the inspection.

In addition, the plant conducted the second inspection from February 22.