Vale Inco Newfoundland Ltd.
Associate Member

Mr. Craig Hollett
Site Superintendant
Suite W200, Bally Rou Place
280 Torbay Road
St. John's, NL A1A 3W8
Tel. (709) 758-8868 Fax (709)758-3363
Email: craig.hollett@valeinco.com

Vale Inco is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vale (Vale S.A.) of Brazil. Vale is the second largest mining company in the world, with a market capitalization of more than US$ 125 billion. Vale Inco has over 12,000 employees worldwide and had net sales last year of over US$8 billion.

In 1996, Vale Inco acquired the rights to the Vale Inco Newfoundland and Labrador nickel-copper-cobalt deposits located on the eastern edge of a vast expanse of northern wilderness 300 kilometres north of Happy Valley-Goose Bay in Labrador, Canada.

In June 2002, Vale Inco, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Vale Inco Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador jointly announced an agreement in principle on a $1.9 billion (Cdn. $2.9 billion) plan to develop the Vale Inco Newfoundland and Labrador deposit. The negotiated agreements entered into in early October 2002 consisted of a Development Agreement and an Industrial and Employment Benefits Agreement.

Three years later, in the fall of 2005, operations in Labrador came onstream some eight months ahead of schedule. Currently, concentrate from Vale Inco
Newfoundland and Labrador is being shipped to Vale Inco's Ontario Operations in Sudbury and Manitoba Operations in Thompson, Manitoba for processing.

The commercial processing plant is scheduled to commence operation in Long Harbour,Newfoundland in 2011.