Our mining activity

We are Québec’s largest producer of nickel, a metallic element of vital importance to our society.

We operate four underground mines that provide all the raw ore our concentrator needs. The four mines are called Kikialik (an Inuktitut word meaning, “where there is nickel”), Qakimajurq (meaning “rich”), Katinniq, and Mine 2. The ore extracted from our mines is crushed, ground and processed on site to produce a nickel concentrate. Every year, nearly 1.5 million tonnes of crude ore is processed on site, resulting in an annual production of nearly 40,000 tonnes of nickel-in-concentrate. We also produce copper, cobalt and a few precious metals in much smaller volumes.

The nickel concentrate travels 100 kilometers by truck from our mine site to the Deception Bay seaport. It is then stored there in a dome until it begins its 2,600 km sea voyage to the Port of Quebec aboard the MV Arctic, a 27,000 metric ton icebreaker. Upon arrival at the Port of Québec, the concentrate is transferred to a train bound for the Glencore smelter in Sudbury, Ontario. It is only after this 950 km trip that the nickel concentrate from Raglan Mine is melted and cast into matte. The new product returns to Quebec City by rail and is then shipped to the Nikkelverk refinery in the Norwegian coastal town of Kristiansand, where the raw nickel is processed into high quality metals that will be sold around the world!

Nickel offers sustainable value and innovative solutions for today's and tomorrow's needs.

Endowed with sought-after properties, including resistance to corrosion and various temperatures, nickel is a basic element at the heart of today's modern society. It is found in many vital products and services, including surgical instruments, as well as in everyday items such as cutlery, cell phones and electric vehicle batteries.

Glencore is the 4th largest nickel producer in the world.