The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Inco Ltd. forecasts declining nickel supplies in the Thompson region in the coming years, prompting what one company official called an "exploration urgency." Ron Aelick, president of Canadian and U.K. operations, told Reuters last week that the company is projecting dwindling supplies over the next 10 to 15 years. "That's been driving our exploration urgency," he told the news organization. "From a scientific perspective, there's some concern that we will not find a large ore body (in the Thompson region) soon, but that's normally the domain of exploration." Inco reportedly spends between $5 million Cdn. and $6 million Cdn. on exploration in the Thompson region each year. Aelick commented that he remains hopeful more nickel will be found, saying that "the world of exploration calls for optimists." Inco's Thompson operation produces about 100 million lbs. of nickel annually for world markets. In addition to nickel, the Thompson operation produces a copper/nickel matte product that is sent to Inco's facilities in Sudbury, Ont. for further processing. Another by-product, cobalt oxide, is also shipped to other Inco locations for processing.
