Nickel mine Noumea New Caledonia

Unexpected industrial grime in the normally pristine South Pacific.
A swing from holiday snaps to photo journalism.

"Nickel mining in New Caledonia is a major sector of the New Caledonian economy. The islands contain about 7,100,000 tonnes of nickel which is about 10% of the world's nickel reserves. With the annual production of about 107,000 tonnes in 2009, New Caledonia was the world's fifth largest producer after Russia (266,000), Indonesia (189,000), Canada (181,000) and Australia (167,000). Nickel production in New Caledonia accounts for 7–10% the country’s GDP and is responsible for as much as 80% towards foreign earnings. With the exclusion of tourism, nickel ore and derived metallurgical products represent about 97% of the total value of exports." Wikipedia