Strategy and Organization
The projects and engineering team is responsible for developing and executing Falconbridge's major projects from pre-feasibility through to commissioning and production. The team handles all projects that have capital requirements in excess of $25 million or other measures of project size and complexity.

• Acts as internal consultants on capital expenditures or process improvements as required
• Assists the exploration and business development teams with the evaluation of business opportunities, and manages the closed production sites and reclamation program
• Performs corporate governance duties as required by our senior management team

Successful project development and execution is key to business sustainability. Our objectives are to comprehensively define and rigorously execute projects through the project evaluation and implementation stages, and to deliver the defined business case, for the commodity business units. Project results are achieved through a disciplined application of engineering general principles and the Falconbridge Capital Management Process, Stage Gate, which demands rigorous project risk analysis prior to and during execution.

The projects and engineering team includes a core group of executives, project managers and engineering professionals. For each project, the group assembles a project team made up of Falconbridge employees from across our business units and the best available engineering and construction contractors. These teams deliver comprehensive project evaluations and rigorously executed projects.

• The $100 million Montcalm nickel mine in Timmins, Ontario was recently completed and will increase refined nickel production by 9,000 tonnes annually. This project, as defined at the feasibility gate, was completed ahead of schedule, under budget and ramped up 20% ahead of plan.
• The completion of the feasibility study for the Koniambo Project in New Caledonia, a world-class nickel-laterite resource.

Capital Management Process
The Falconbridge Capital Management Process ensures that all major projects apply a structured methodology during both the project evaluation and implementation phases. The Company's project management and design for Six Sigma guidelines provide a clear, consistent road map.

Key elements include the application of comprehensive risk assessment and mitigation techniques; robust financial modelling, project planning and progressive engineering; and peer reviews involving appropriate functional experts.

Each project goes through a series of approval or review gates. A multi-functional approval committee monitors project progress, defines project deliverables and approves progress to the next stage. The Capital Management Process has enhanced the Company's deployment of capital by improving the evaluation of projects at earlier stages, ensuring that only projects that increase Company value proceed to development, and developing better solutions and implementation plans.