Protesters burn vehicles, buildings at controversial New Caledonia nickel mine

(Reuters, Sydney, 27 May 2014) Dozens of protesters caused tens of millions of dollars in damage to vehicles, equipment and buildings at Vale's nickel mining site in New Caledonia, as anger boiled over at a chemical spill into a local river. The $6 billion Vale plant at Goro was closed earlier this month after some 100,000 litres of acid-tainted effluent spilled, killing about 1,000 fish and sparking protests at the mine site. Vale and previous owner INCO's Security and Exchange Commission K-10 reports indicated clearly that local opposition was a risk. What's New in June and November and the Wall Street Journal highlighted these problems in 2006: a court order annulled the project's operating permit based on inadequate environmental impact assessments, previous incidents of equipment sabotage and New Caledonian indigenous groups lobbying the French government to withdraw a $500 million tax subsidy did not stop some OECD ECAs from consideration of support for the controversial project. Despite the latest violent reaction to the damage caused by the mine, Canada's Scotiabank continues to support Vale.