No pain for Inco from strike, analyst says

The strike at the Voisey's Bay mine in Labrador will not hurt Inco's bottom line, a mining analyst says.

Nickel prices have been trading at record levels this summer, amid a strike that shut down the mine at Voisey's Bay — on the northern coast of Labrador — in late July.

Ray Goldie said Inco is cleaning up in the marketplace, thanks in part to nickel concentrate sent to smelters in Ontario and Manitoba before the strike.

"The view by the market— that Inco is more than compensated by higher prices— suggests that Inco's not as motivated as the union" to settle, said Goldie, a metals analyst with Salman Partners in Toronto.

Voisey's Bay Nickel, an Inco subsidiary, has not shipped any ore since the strike began, and unions in Sudbury and Thompson, Man., have said they will not process Labrador nickel as long as the strike lasts.

Goldie, though, thinks Inco can hold out for a long time. Once the Voisey's Bay ore has been processed and sold, he said, Inco can ramp up production at its other mines, or import concentrate from Australia.

Union representative Ken Dawson said the117 members of the United Steelworkers on strike in Labradorwill stick to their demands for better wages.

"If we can't get the same as other Inco workers now— when they're making loads of money— if we don't get wage parity now, we [won't] ever get it," Dawson said.

No talks between Voisey's Bay Nickel and the United Steelworkers are scheduled.