www.ferro-alloys.com: Vale and Eramet have been forced to suspend operations at nickel mines in New Caledonia following a Category 3 cyclone that hit the country on Monday April 10.

Cyclone Cook hit the main island with wind gusts of up to 200 km/h on Monday, local media reports said, causing miners to be evacuated from sites across the French territory.

In a statement emailed to Metal Bulletin on Monday, Brazillian multinational nickel miner Vale confirmed it has suspended operations at its Goro mine.  

Eramet meanwhile, through subsidiary Societe Le Nickel, confirmed it has suspended mining operations at five sites in the country. Operations at its Doniambo metallurgical plant, which produces ferro-nickel, are running at a reduced level, the company said.

"We hope to restart the mining operations ASAP once the cyclonic episode will be finished," a spokesperson for French miner Eramet said.

Glencore have yet to respond regarding operations at Koniambo.

New Caledonia is the world's fifth largest producer of nickel. It contains around a quarter of the world's reserves of the metal, according to some analysts estimates.

• [Editor:Licaixia]