The South Korean company Korea Zinc has pulled out of plans to bid for the Brazilian-owned Vale nickel plant in New Caledonia.
A photo taken on May 27, 2015 shows Brazilian Vale's nickel processing plant of Goro in southern New Caledonia. Photo: AFP PHOTO / FRED PAYET
Korea Zinc has been the partner of Sofinor of the Northern Province, whose joint bid for the asset had earlier been rejected by Vale.
The planned sale of the Vale plant to a new consortium Prony Resources had, however, been contested by Kanak groups and pro-independence parties who insisted on the Sofinor bid.
After weeks of protests, two roundtables organised by the French government last week were meant to explore the two options further.
Disagreements over the sale discussions led to widespread blockades and riots in Noumea yesterday.
Dozens of people were arrested and several police officers were injured.
The police intervene to remove the roadblocks Photo: AFP
Korea Zinc, which had failed in getting access to the Vale site for a due diligence assessment, has now pulled out.
Vale has said it will shut the plant in a few weeks if a sale fails, which could trigger thousands of job losses.
Vale has lost billions with its New Caledonia plant, which is the region's costliest industrial installation.