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BBOP Pilot Project Case Study – Ambatovy Project
1. Executive Summary
The Ambatovy Project is a large-tonnage nickel project in Madagascar with an annual design capacity of
60,000 tonnes of nickel and 5,600 tonnes of cobalt. The Project is comprised of two companies Ambatovy
Minerals SA and Dynatec Madagascar SA each owned in the same proportion by Sherritt Incorporated,
Sumitomo Incorporated, Kores and SNC Lavalin. The Project was permitted in December 2006. Construction
began in early 2007 and production is due to begin by the end of 2010, reaching full capacity by 2013. The
Project’s expected
LIFECYCLE
is 27 years, although operation beyond this is likely.
The Ambatovy Project has six components: the mine, the slurry pipeline, the processing plant (including
refinery), the tailings management facility, the harbour extension and the resettlement site. The Project covers
a large territory extending over two of Madagascar’s twenty-two regions. The mine is located at an elevation
of approximately 1,000 m above sea level, on Madagascar’s eastern escarpment, near the town of
Moramanga. The industrial complex (plant, tailings management facility and harbour) is located 130 km to the
northeast of the mine site, in the seaport city of Toamasina. A 218 km slurry pipeline carrying a water laterite
slurry, which contains the ore, links the mine and plant. The proposed off-site offset of Ankerana, which
constitutes the key component of the multifaceted offset programme, is situated in a very remote area
between the mine site and Toamasina.
The Ambatovy Project’s vision states that it will operate a sustainable nickel / cobalt mining and processing
enterprise that delivers outstanding environmental and social records. The Project developed an
environmental strategy aiming at honouring the Project’s vision, by producing positive
CONSERVATION
OUTCOMES
on biodiversity through an offset programme. The offset programme aims at achieving
NO NET LOSS
on biodiversity, and preferably
NET GAIN
. The business benefit is essentially linked to risk management and
aims to sustain ‘a good citizen project’ status in a host country recognised to constitute a
BIODIVERSITY
HOTSPOT
but suffering from chronic poverty.
The Ambatovy offsets programme is multifaceted with many components. The programme has been adopted
voluntarily to go above and beyond the Project’s impacts management strategy. The Programme includes:
1.
The Ankerana offset:
the off-site offset area covers 11,600 hectares (ha) of endangered forest, with
similar
ABIOTIC
and
BIOTIC
conditions to those found at the mine site; the Project aims to ensure its long
term protection through legal arrangements, financing and community consensus.
2.
Two azonal forest sites:
two on-site (mine) azonal forest conservation areas occur partially over the
ore body footprint; the Project aims to ensure their long term protection through legal and managerial
commitments.
3.
The mine area conservation forest:
the conservation forest area around the mine footprint is 4,900
ha; the Project aims to ensure its long term conservation as part of the priority species management
programme and maintenance of the ecological services for the local communities.
4.
The Analamay-Mantadia forest corridor:
the Project is spearheading the establishment of a forest
corridor between the mine area forests and the nearby Ankeniheny-Zahamena Corridor; the forest
corridor aims at long term landscape level
CONNECTIVITY
for the protection of mine area biodiversity
through partnerships with government, NGOs and local communities.
