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RIO DE JANEIRO–Brazilian mining giant Vale SA said late Thursday it doesn’t know when nickel production in New Caledonia will resume, after an acid leak forced an outage at its mine and processing plant there and prompted intervention by local authorities.

The shutdown, which began Wednesday, caused a spike in nickel prices on supply concerns. The government of New Caledonia’s Southern Province described the incident as “serious” and called for “emergency” measures.

A Vale spokeswoman said in an email statement Thursday that “a small quantity” of the acidic solution leaked into a nearby river. She added that an investigation to identify the cause of the accident and its potential impact on the environment was underway.

Vale’s nickel facilities in New Caledonia, a former French territory in the South Pacific, have struggled with operational problems in recent years but posted one of their best quarters ever at the beginning of 2014, churning out 4,100 metric tons of nickel.

Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20140508-720314.html