Archive | Sudbury Basin

OPINION: From sulphur to solar: A big idea for Sudbury’s Superstack – by Jason McLennan (Northern Ontario Business – January 24, 2020)

January 24, 2020 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Green Mining, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin, Vale

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Sudbury’s story is inextricably linked to our Superstack. The story is not just environmental degradation. It is also inextricably connected to the planting of millions of trees, the extraordinary recovery of our lakes, the enriching of our depleted soils, and the return of biodiversity.

Growing up in Sudbury meant being associated with the Superstack, which I thought was a ‘cloud-making machine’ when I was really young. I didn’t understand the environmental legacy. What I knew at a young age was that we were here because of nickel.

This symbol of our city and Canada’s second tallest structure represents massive possibility. Once gone, a big piece of the city’s identity and story will be lost, along with the opportunity to remake this emblem of Sudbury’s environmentally dark past into one of a regenerative future. Continue Reading →

Sudbury: MiningWatch Canada pushes for global review of safety of tailings dams (CBC News Sudbury – January 23, 2020)

January 24, 2020 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Mining Environmental Accidents, Pollution, Tailing Dams and Abandoned Mines, Sudbury Basin, Vale

https://www.cbc.ca/

Third party would review engineering and ground conditions, says MiningWatch spokesperson

State prosecutors in Brazil have charged Fabio Schvartsman, the former chief executive of the mining company Vale, and 15 other people with homicide in connection with a tailings dam disaster last January that killed more than 250 people.

Jamie Kneen is communications and outreach coordinator with MiningWatch Canada. Kneen said his organization is pushing for a global review of the safety of tailing dams.

“We really need an independent third party with a lot of clout and credibility to have the authority to go in and investigate and look at the engineering but also the ground conditions,” he said. Vale and the company responsible for inspecting the dam have also been charged with environmental crimes. Continue Reading →

Lake trout’s return reflects success of Sudbury’s regreening efforts – by Mary Katherine Keown (Sudbury Star – January 23, 2020)

January 23, 2020 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Green Mining, Mining Environmental, Water Shortage and Land Reclamation/Revegetation Issues, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

‘Sudbury is an example to the world of what can be done’

All herald the mighty lake trout. This cold-water, oxygen-loving fish is a sign that Sudbury’s regreening efforts have really taken root.

“We’re trying to educate people about local species and local biodiversity in ecosystems,” Tina McCaffrey, supervisor of the city’s regreening program, says. “For myself and my parents, growing up 40 years ago, we know the landscape was black and lifeless. But children today – they miss out on that. They don’t always know what we’re talking about when we say Sudbury used to be like a moonscape.”

Sudbury’s regreening efforts are impressive. There is a hill in the Little Britain area where you can climb and look out over the slag pours of Vale in one direction, and the expanse of leafy neighbourhoods and verdant woods in the other. Sudbury no longer resembles the moonscapes of past decades. Certainly, our rocks are still black, but now they are covered in mosses, lichens, trees and shrubs that speak to the pioneering efforts of the VETAC committee. Continue Reading →

As MacLean Engineering’s electric mining vehicles start to be deployed in real-world applications, work at the company’s Sudbury test site is helping to forge the next phase in mining’s transformation – by Devin Arthur (Electric Autonomy – January 21, 2020)

January 22, 2020 in Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Green Mining, Mining Supply and Services Sector, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin

https://electricautonomy.ca/

Last November, I visited a test site run by one of the world’s leading manufacturers of zero-emissions mining technology. MacLean Engineering’s Sudbury, Ontario facility is being used to test battery-powered electric mining vehicles, which the Canadian company has been working to develop since 2015.

The impressive site consists of a 300-metre long underground ramp and an excavated cavern, in which enormous electric vehicles are tested for levels of energy use and heat generation.

A deep history

Nickel and copper mining has been ongoing in Sudbury for over 100 years, so at this point many of its mines are quite deep. Typically, ventilation requirements for mines of a certain depth are significant. Continue Reading →

NEWS RELEASE: VALE AND THE UNITED STEELWORKERS RAISE OVER $470,000 FOR UNITED WAY CENTRAIDE NORTH EAST ONTARIO (January 16, 2020)

January 17, 2020 in Sudbury Basin, Vale

SUDBURY, January 16, 2019 – Vale and The United Steelworkers announced today that together with Vale’s 50% match to employee contributions, $473,278 has been raised in a joint fundraising campaign for the United Way Centraide North East Ontario (UWCNEO).

“I’m proud of this longstanding and shared tradition of generosity between Vale and the United Steelworkers and want to thank each and every employee who contributed to this campaign,” said Dino Otranto, Chief Operating Officer of Vale’s North Atlantic Operations and Asian Refineries. “It’s indicative of the genuine care and interest our employees have in supporting our community.

Vale matches 50 cents to every dollar employees donate to the UWCNEO. Employees can contribute via a payroll deduction program or in lump sum payments.

“United Steelworkers Local 6500 are honoured to continue supporting the United Way’s 38th annual fundraising campaign,” said Nick Larochelle, President of USW Local 6500. Continue Reading →

Organization gearing up to promote Indigenous-mining relationships – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – January 14, 2020)

January 14, 2020 in Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Centre of Excellence for Indigenous Minerals Development will be based in Sudbury

Dawn Madahbee Leach is hopeful that a newly forged partnership between Waubetek Business Development Corp. and Rio Tinto will be just the first of many positive working relationships between Indigenous people and the mining industry.

In November, the global mining giant announced it would invest $1 million over five years into Waubetek’s Centre of Excellence for Indigenous Minerals Development, which is being established in Northern Ontario.

“Our partnership aims to grow the opportunity for Indigenous communities to participate in a meaningful way in the benefits that can come from responsible mineral development,” said Simone Niven, Rio Tinto’s group executive of corporate relations, in a Nov. 27 news release announcing the partnership. Continue Reading →

Inventus trades heavily on Sudbury update (Resource World – Janary 13, 2020)

January 14, 2020 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Gold and Silver, Junior Exploration Sector, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin

https://resourceworld.com/

Inventus Mining Corp. [IVS-TSXV] shares advanced in heavy trading Monday January 13 after the company said it has updated the terms of a previously announced non-brokered private placement that aims fund projects in the Sudbury, Ontario region.

It said the updated private placement will be for up to 12.4 million units at 10.5 cents per unit, raising gross proceeds of $1.3 million.

Each unit will consist of one common share and one common share purchase warrant, each of which will entitle the holder to acquire one common share for 17 cents for a period of two years after the closing date of the offering. Continue Reading →

Group wants Long Lake plan to move forward – by Jim Moodie (Sudbury Star – January 10, 2020)

January 10, 2020 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Gold and Silver, Mining Environmental Accidents, Pollution, Tailing Dams and Abandoned Mines, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Despite concerns raised by some residents, most people living on Long Lake support a new plan to tackle contamination from an old gold mine, according to the head of a stewardship group.

“You can’t satisfy everybody 100 per cent of the time,” said Scott Darling, chair of the Long Lake Stewardship Committee. “But our position is this is the best plan we have seen in close to 10 years for getting the problem solved, and the problem is the arsenic in the lake.”

A cleanup and tailings-containment strategy put forward in 2017 by the Ministry of Energy, Northern Development and Mines was met with more resistance, he said, as it would have resulted in a high volume of truck traffic on area roads. The ministry went back to the drawing board, however, considering four alternatives to the original plan. Continue Reading →

Accent: Sudbury’s impact on Lake Huron (hint — it’s major) – by Joe Shorthouse (Sudbury Star – December 21, 2019)

December 23, 2019 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Mining Environmental Accidents, Pollution, Tailing Dams and Abandoned Mines, Nickel, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Sudbury is part of the Great Lakes Ecosystem. Water in toilets flushed in Sudbury, along with waters from mine tailings, flows into Lake Huron and pass under the swing bridge on Manitoulin Island

The new partnership of residents who live year-round on the islands in the Great Lakes, called the Great Lakes Islands Alliance (GLIA), held its third annual Summit on Mackinac Island in Lake Michigan in October.

As with previous gatherings, participants reminded themselves that the Great Lakes hold about 20 per cent of the world’s fresh water and living on islands comes with the responsibility of protecting the integrity of this critical resource.

Participants have come to visualize the five Great Lakes as gently sloping eastward from the west coast of Lake Superior to the east coast of Lake Ontario, and as a result, Great Lakes waters eventually flow into the St. Lawrence River and the Atlantic Ocean. Continue Reading →

Vale files $1-million lawsuit, CBC report says – by Staff (Sudbury Star – December 17, 2019)

December 18, 2019 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Nickel, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin, Vale

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

A half-dozen people profited in a complex fraud scheme through a Vale mill, according to a civil suit filed in Ontario Superior Court in Toronto.

The document, which was obtained by CBC, alleges former Clarabelle Mill superintendent Lee MacIsaac, along with maintenance supervisor William Auger and parts coordinator Yvan Lecuyer, conspired to pocket at least $1 million through payments on maintenance work that was never performed.

None of the allegations have been proven in a court of law. The suit also names three men affiliated with contracting companies as collaborators in the scheme: Felix Vazquez of Metso Minerals, John Vasconcelos of E.S. Fox Ltd., and Jason Bettiol of ABS Manufacturing. Continue Reading →

Striving to understand the mining workforce of the future – by Len Gillis (Northern Ontario Business – December 16, 2019)

December 16, 2019 in Canada Mining, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Sudbury Basin

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Sudbury mining panelists discuss how to recruit, retain employees in the digital age

It is going to take imagination, better communications and some good listening skills for the mining industry to attract and retain enough workers skilled in data-driven and digital technology.

Those were some of the comments during a recent panel discussion held in Sudbury at the annual general meeting of SAMSSA (Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association).

The panel was made up of well-known experts in various sectors of mining. They included Michael Gribbons, vice-president of sales and marketing at Maestro Digital Mine; Lynn Iturregui, project management for mining at Hatch; Roy Slack, the president of CIM (Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum); and Shayne Wisniewski, general manager of mining projects for Glencore’s Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations. Continue Reading →

SAMSSA looks to expand, bids DeStefano farewell – by Colleen Romaniuk (Sudbury Northern Life – December 6, 2019)

December 9, 2019 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Mining Supply and Services Sector, Sudbury Basin

https://www.sudbury.com/

The Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association (SAMSSA) held their AGM on Dec. 4 at Dynamic Earth

A Sudbury-based mining supply industry group has its eyes on pan-Northern and global expansion. The Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association (SAMSSA) held their annual general meeting on Dec. 4 at Dynamic Earth.

In welcoming members from North Bay, Timmins, Sault Ste. Marie, and Thunder Bay, the association reaffirmed its intention to support Northern Ontario businesses on a global scale and to generate leads for their member companies.

SAMSSA is currently working to increase their visibility both in the North and around the world. They’ve recently initiated an in-coming and outgoing export program and completed a trade mission to Nevada. From Jan. 12 to 17, 2020, SAMSSA is planning another trade mission to Santiago, Chile. Members are being encouraged to register to explore the market towards establishing a footprint on the ground. Continue Reading →

New boss at Vale – Dino Otranto – favours improved safety and being more competitive – by Len Gillis (Northern Ontario Business – December 5, 2019)

December 5, 2019 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Nickel, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin, Vale

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

“We have an abundance of ore here, one of the top three nickel-copper orebodies
in the entire world, right here. We haven’t really scratched
the surface of the potential of that orebody,” Dino Otranto said.

Dino Otranto, the new man at the helm of Vale Base Metals in Canada, said he is more than pleased with the level of commitment from Vale employees. He was equally overwhelmed at the level of innovation and technology being used to keep the company successful. Just as important, he said, is the critical need to be more competitive.

Otranto, who has a blue chip mining résumé stretching back to the early 2000s, is the new chief operating officer for Vale’s North Atlantic Operations and Asian Refineries. Prior to that, he was the company’s chief technology officer based in Toronto.

As he spoke recently from his office in Sudbury, Otranto said he had no plan to shake things up when he moved into his role earlier in 2019. Continue Reading →

Canadian labour legend Leo Gerard on the past, present and future of unions – Interview by Michael Enright (CBC Radio – Sunday Edition – November 22, 2019)

December 4, 2019 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Northern Ontario History, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin, Sudbury History, Vale

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundayedition/

Leo Gerard was 11 years old when he handed out his first union leaflets. That was in 1958, and he was living in Sudbury, a mining town. The leaflets were for the Mine Mill, the union his father belonged to.

What Gerard didn’t know then was that he would spend much of the rest of his life as a labour leader and activist. He began as a staff representative at the United Steelworkers (the USW) and moved quickly through the ranks. This summer, he retired as international president of the USW, a position he held for 18 years.

Gerard spoke to The Sunday Edition’s Michael Enright about his life in the labour movement and the future of unions in an age of globalized trade, a collapsing manufacturing sector and precarious employment. Continue Reading →

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