Moa Bay Nickel

Acid Plant Database February 24, 2011

Owner	Moa Nickel S.A.	-
Location	Cuba	-
Background	Formerly - Moa Bay Mining Company - wholly owned by Freeport Nickel Company, a subsidiary of Freeport Sulphur Corporation 1994 - Moa Joint Venture between subsidiaries of Sherritt and General Nickel Company S.A. www.sherritt.com Sherritt's current Metals production is carried out through its 50% interest in a joint venture known as the Moa Joint Venture. The Moa Joint Venture is a vertically-integrated nickel and cobalt mining, processing, refining and marketing joint venture between subsidiaries of Sherritt and General Nickel Company S.A. (‘‘GNC''), a Cuban company. The operations of the Joint Venture, known as Metals Enterprise S.A., are carried on through three companies: • Moa Nickel S.A. (‘‘Moa Nickel'') - owns and operates the Moa, Cuba mining and processing facility • The Cobalt Refinery Company Inc. (‘‘CRC'') - owns and operates the Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta metals refinery • International Cobalt Company Inc. (‘‘ICCI'') - is responsible for feed acquisition and the marketing and sale of commodity cobalt and nickel.
Website	-
Plant	Pedro Soto Alba
Coordinates*	20° 37' 59" N, 74° 55' 59" W	-
Type of Plant	Sulphur Burning	Sulphur Burning
Gas Source	Elemental Sulphur	Elemental Sulphur
Plant Capacity	-	2000 MTPD
SA/DA	-	DA
Emissions	-	-
Status	-	Construction - On Hold
Year Built	-	-
Technology	-	SNC-Lavalin/Fenco
Contractor	-	-
Remarks	-	-
Pictures
Pictures
General	Moa Nickel uses an open pit mining process to mine lateritic nickel and cobalt ore, which is processed onsite into mixed sulphides containing nickel and cobalt. These mixed sulphides are shipped to the east coast of Canada, where they are then transported by train to Sherritt's Fort Saskatchewan facility for refining into finished nickel and cobalt. Currently, the Moa Joint Venture produces approximately 37,000 tonnes of nickel and cobalt annually. The Metals business also includes Sherritt's 100%-owned fertilizer and utilities operation located in Fort Saskatchewan which provides inputs for the metals refinery and produces agricultural fertilizer for sale in western Canada. The nickel production in Cuba is concentrated on the factories "René Ramos Latour", of Nicaro, and "Pedro Soto Alba" and "Ernesto Che Guevara", of Moa, in territory of Holguín in the Oriente of Cuba. While the Nickel Processor Plant "Pedro Soto Alba" is a limited liability company between Cuba and Sherrit International Canadian Company, the others two ones belong to the government enterprise Cubaníquel. As average per year, The "René Ramos Latour" produces nearly 10.000 tons of nickel without refining more cobalt, as long as The "Soto Alba" and "Che Guevara" produces more than 30.000 tons each one.
References	-
News	February 23, 2011 - In a pessimistic outlook for its Cuban operations this year, Canadian energy and mining concern Sherritt International expects production declines in all its business areas for 2011. Sherritt, Cuba’s largest foreign investor, said in its fourth-quarter financial report that it expects moderate production declines in nickel (-2%) and cobalt (-2.9%), and considerable declines in the production of oil (-7.1%) and electricity (-18.7%). Even so, the company is ratcheting up capital investments on the island. Sherritt expects to invest $50 million in its Moa nickel joint venture in Cuba this year, up from $40 million in 2010. Also, Sherritt and its joint venture partner Cubaníquel are “reviewing options for the completion of the Phase 2 Expansion and the construction of the sulphuric acid plant at Moa,” the company said in its report, adding that these projects are not included in the capital spending projections for this year. Sherritt expects to invest $100 million in Cuban oil operations, up from $53 million last year. The rise is mainly due to eight new on-shore wells planned for this year. Investments in its power assets in Cuba will be $158 million this year, up from $20 million in 2010. All of the investment will go into the 150-mw Boca de Jaruco combined-cycle power plant. The company, which makes the bulk of its business in Cuba, logged in a fourth-quarter profit of $73.8 million, up from $48.3 million the same quarter a year ago. For the full year of 2010, Sherritt registered net income of $222.4 million, up from $57.4 million in 2009. Revenues were $1.771.1 billion, up from $1,474.9 billion. The boost for Sherritt came thanks to rising prices for oil, gas, nickel and cobalt, rather than rising production. Despite efforts to increase nickel production in the face of rising prices, sales were flat in 2010 at 37.253 million pounds, compared to 37.365 million pounds in 2009. However, fourth-quarter sales were 9.791 million pounds, up from 9.268 million pounds. Cobalt sales remained essentially flat, both during the fourth quarter and full year. All of Sherritt’s nickel and cobalt production originates in Cuba. Sherritt 2nd Q 2010 report - In Metals, full-year 2010 production of mixed sulphides and finished nickel remains unchanged from the last quarter. Finished cobalt production estimates reflect decreased availability of third-party feeds in the second half of 2010. Capital expenditure guidance is 22% ($12 million) lower than previously disclosed. The decrease reflects an anticipated delay in the construction of the 2,000 tonne per day sulphuric acid plant at Moa, which remains subject to securing adequate financing. July 28, 2010 - Toronto-based Sherritt International said in its second-quarter report that, although nickel production stagnated and sale volume was down from the second quarter last year, nickel revenues rose thanks to higher prices. Sherritt produced 3,740 tons of nickel, down from to 4,261 tons in the second quarter last year; the company sold 8.27 million pounds of nickel during the quarter, down from 9.582 million pounds last year. However, revenues from nickel sales were $88.2 million, up from $65.7 million last year. The average realized price rose from $6.86 per pound last year to $10.65 this year. The company said in its outlook for the remainder of the year that it expects construction of a 2,000 ton-per-day sulphuric acid plant at its Moa nickel production facility to be delayed, “subject to securing adequate financing.” www.cubastandard.com

MTPD - Metric Tonne per Day STPD - Short Ton per Day
MTPA - Metric Tonne per Annum STPA - Short Ton per Annum
SA - Single Absorption
DA - Double Absorption

* Coordinates can be used to locate plant on Google Earth


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