Ambatovy is a large-tonnage, long-life nickel and cobalt mining enterprise located in Madagascar. Ambatovy is the largest-ever foreign investment in the country and one of the biggest in sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian Ocean region. It will soon rank among the largest lateritic nickel mining entities in the world.
Actually, the Canadian company Sherritt International incorporated, currently in a joint venture with Sumitomo, a Japanese company, Kores, a South Korean company, and SNC Lavalin, also Canadian, signed an agreement for cobalt and nickel extraction in Ambatovy with the Malagasy government in 2006.
The building of the mine and smelter infrastructure was completed in 2011. This included open-pit mine sites and a mill in Ambatovy near Moramanga, a hydro-metallurgical smelter in Tanandava about 10 kms from Toamasina, and a 220 km pipeline that will move the milled ore mixed with water (a slurry) to the smelter. The processing will use sulphur products - some of which are toxic. The concentrated cobalt, nickel and ammonium sulphate will then be shipped to Asian markets from the harbour. The toxic tailings from the process will be stored in perpetuity near the process plant.
The project benefits have been well promoted in the media. However, the negative consequences of the construction phase of the project to the health and lives of the affected people nearby reached public attention when a serious accident occured between February and March 2012 and four people lost their lives.
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