By any measure, 2005 was a milestone year for Voisey’s Bay Nickel Company Limited (VBNC). We achieved the start of operations at both the mine and concentrator in Voisey’s Bay, Labrador, and the Hydromet Demonstration Plant in Argentia, Newfoundland. Both facilities opened a full eight months ahead of the original project schedule.

We worked hard this year to achieve our targets for aboriginal hiring, local employment, gender diversity and business procurement. I am pleased to say that we exceeded our targets in almost all cases, setting new benchmarks in the employment of Aboriginal people and hiring women to non-traditional work roles. I know how challenging it can be to achieve such targets; to exceed them in this fashion is quite an accomplishment, and I extend congratulations to all involved.

Our safety and environmental record in 2005 was good, though there is certainly room for improvement. We are challenging ourselves to work harder than ever in 2006 to maintain safe and environmentally-responsible operations.

In this, our third annual social responsibility report, we aim to keep you, our stakeholders, informed of the progress we are making in developing the Voisey’s Bay project. The report outlines the employment and business opportunities the project is bringing to Newfoundland and Labrador as a result of construction, and now the operations phase.

During this watershed year, we worked in collaboration, consultation and cooperation with many community groups, aboriginal groups and all levels of government to achieve our mutual goals. By working together, we believe we can help stimulate the development of communities that have the capacity and capability to sustain themselves well beyond the life of this project.