Koniambo mine

21°00′29″S 164°43′48″E / 21.008°S 164.73°E / -21.008; 164.73

The Koniambo mine is a large open pit mine of the laterite variety in the north of New Caledonia in the North Province. It is closest to the small town of Voh, on the west coast of the island. Nickel is found in saprolite ore on the Koniambo Massif, and taken by conveyor to a new smelter on the coast. Koniambo has one of the largest nickel reserves in New Caledonia, with around 151 million tonnes of ore grading at 2.58% nickel, which was in 2014 reputed to be the highest-grade undeveloped property in the world. Each 62.5 million tonnes of ore contains 4 million tonnes of nickel metal. The final output of the mine is ferronickel, approximately 176,000t per annum of which is produced in shot form. The shot is packaged into two-tonne bags for onward shipment. The projected mine life from first exploitation is 25 years. A deep water private port was built for import and export purposes.