Prony Resources, one of New Caledonia’s three plants specializing in metal recovery, restarted operations on Monday November 18, a key step in the revival of the industry and the search for a buyer for the site, six months after the start of the insurrectionary crisis in the archipelago. The violence, which began on May 13, brought mining and metallurgical production at the site in the south of Grande-Terre to a complete halt.

Deprived of electricity due to damage to a high-voltage line near the Saint-Louis tribe, the plant also saw its access and raw water supply disrupted. “Electricity is [désormais] operational, access to raw water is assured and the site is secure, despite road restrictions in Saint-Louis.”said the AFP source. This resumption of activity is crucial to restore the company’s finances with around 1,300 employees, damaged by six months of stoppage. “Our aim is to return to the performance that was our strength at the beginning of the year”.management stresses. It adds that the expected revenues are indispensable “to relieve a treasury “very fragile today”..

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A potential buyer

At a meeting with the press on October 23, Sonia Backès, President of the South Province, the main shareholder in the metallurgical company, explained that Prony Resources still had seven to eight months of financial autonomy before defaulting, thanks in particular to state support of around 140 million euros. Shareholders are awaiting a visit from a potential buyer, the South African Sibanye-Stillwater group. “They want to see the plant up and running before considering a takeover”.argued Mme Backès at the end of October. A second technical mission could take place two months after the takeover.

The violence in France’s South Pacific archipelago, which has left 13 people dead and billions of euros worth of damage, has further weakened an already ailing New Caledonian nickel industry. In mid-October, Société Le Nickel (SLN) announced that it was “mothballing” of its Thio mining center (east coast of Grande-Terre), devastated by violence linked to the mobilization against the thawing of the electoral roll. At the end of August, in the absence of a buyer, the Koniambo Nickel SAS (KNS) plant in the north of the territory was forced to close, leaving 1,700 employees out in the cold.