The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.
A Sudbury landmark, rated 10 out of 45 attractions to see in the Nickel City, could be coming down, depending upon the result of an analysis by Vale Ltd. The mining company may decommission the 1,250-foot Superstack that has become synonymous with Sudbury’s regreening efforts.
It cost about $25 million to build the giant smokestack in the early 1970s to move sulphur dioxide emissions miles out of the Sudbury Basin where it was killing vegetation and polluting the air.
Because today’s mining processes produce so much less SO2, the Superstack may be superfluous and a much shorter stack could likely do the job.
Kelly Strong, vice-president of Vale’s Ontario and United Kingdom operations, made the announcement about the Superstack study at a noon luncheon Monday of the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce.
No business person asked questions of Strong, not even about the Superstack, when Strong finished his 25-minute presentation to 260 people. Strong told reporters after the luncheon that talk of disposing of the giant stack is bound to create a buzz in the community.
He expects the company to make a decision on the stack by the end of this year.
A smaller stack would use less energy, which is the second highest cost of business for Vale, next to labour costs.
Strong told the business audience that removing the Superstack would be a tangible symbol of mining modernization and could spark a discussion about what modern mining could look like in Sudbury.
“We’re a much more environmentally friendly industry and we’re continuing improving the environment, and this is just one example,” Strong said.
The analysis is looking at what volume of SO2 emissions is going up the stack and what height a new stack would have to be not to have an impact upon local residents.
Strong also spoke about Vale’s efforts to breathe new life into existing mines and “build the mines of tomorrow.”
He reminded the audience that Vale has spent $3.3 billion on supplies and services in Sudbury in the last five years, about half of that spent locally in 2012 and 2013.
For the rest of this article, click here: http://www.thesudburystar.com/2014/11/04/sudburys-superstack-could–be-coming-down-vale
For the entire version of Kelly Strong’s Sudbury speech, click here: http://republicofmining.com/2014/11/03/vale-in-the-sudbury-basin-speech-to-the-greater-sudbury-chamber-of-commerce-by-kelly-strong-vice-president-ontariouk-operations-november-3-2014/