2005 was a year of pride and achievement for VBNC. We reached two major project milestones, through the startup of the mine and concentrator in Voisey’s Bay and the Hydromet Demonstration Plant in Argentia. Both milestones were achieved well ahead of the original project schedule, with strong local employment and business benefits.

Of course, in order to achieve the above milestones, it was necessary to have our entire operations workforce trained and ready, also ahead of project schedule. Even more significantly, we exceeded local and aboriginal employment targets for the operations phase. For example, Aboriginal employees comprise approximately 50 per cent of our operations workforce in Voisey’s Bay, which surpasses our own expectations and raises the bar for similar operations across the country.

In Argentia, more than 50 per cent of the operations workforce at the Demonstration Plant hail from the Placentia area, and 90 per cent are from Newfoundland and Labrador. Moreover, 38 per cent of the employees at the plant are women, working almost entirely in non-traditional and technical roles. This almost doubles our target of 20 per cent.

“Our accomplishment on the engineering,  project and construction management side – finishing construction eight months ahead of schedule – is equaled by the achievement of our human resources people, who were able to put a skilled workforce in place on the same schedule, while exceeding employment targets,” said VBNC’s Managing Director Phil du Toit.  “Our people accomplished this by recognizing early in the project cycle that it was necessary to build capacity, then setting out to do so in a planned and systematic way.”

There were also significant industrial benefits for local and Aboriginal businesses. During 2005, project expenditures in this province totaled approximately $396 million, with 80 per cent accruing to Newfoundland and Labrador companies (with substantial investment in Aboriginal companies). The mine and concentrator accounted for 73 per cent of total expenditures with the Demonstration Plant accounting for 27 per cent. Benefits to local companies, including aboriginal businesses, are continuing into the operations phase, with approximately 80 per cent of operations phase procurement contracts awarded to companies in Newfoundland and Labrador.