Archive | Sudbury Basin

NEWS RELEASE: Mining Innovation: CEMI, Sudbury, Ontario and CEDC, Thunder Bay, Ontario sign memorandum of understanding to co-develop capacity of the mining innovation ecosystem (July 8, 2019)

July 9, 2019 in Mining Education and Innovation, Sudbury Basin

In an effort to help strengthen collaboration across Ontario and leverage resources within the mining innovation ecosystem, the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI) and the Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission (CEDC) are pleased to announce the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU).

The Doug Murray, CEO of CEDC said that “Mining and further mining innovations are important aspects for the continued growth of the Northwestern Ontario Economy and thus appreciate CEMI’s support to make this happen.” and his words aligned with CEMI’s President Douglas Morrison who said “CEMI has always undertaken to help promote mining activity in the north-west of Ontario, and this is another way to recognize our collaborative relationship.”

The purpose of this MOU is to promote a collaborative strategic approach to all aspects of mining, through mining research, technology development and the commercialization of mining innovation. Continue Reading →

Steel contributes $225K to research – by Mia Jensen (Sudbury Star – June 29, 2019)

July 3, 2019 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Industry Clusters for Economic Prosperity, Mining Accidents, Deaths, Cave-Ins and Industrial Disease, Mining Education and Innovation, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

The United Steelworkers announced Friday that they are committing $225,000 over the next three years to Laurentian University’s Centre for Research in Occupation Safety and Health.

As the only centre for occupational health and safety research in Northern Ontario, CROSH’s goal is to partner with workers, workplaces, communities and governments to tackle relevant workplace challenges.

The centre uses a field-to-lab-to-field approach to their research. Researchers engage with industries and communities in the field to understand the problems they are facing. Then they bring their findings to the lab at Laurentian University to troubleshoot evidence-based solutions, before bringing those solutions back to the workplace to be tested in the field. Continue Reading →

A woman’s view of Inco – by Mia Jensen (Sudbury Star – June 29, 2019)

July 2, 2019 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Northern Ontario History, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin, Sudbury History, Women in Mining

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

In 1974, Inco started hiring women for the first time since the end of the Second World War. Cathy Mulroy, then 19, was the second woman in line for a job. Now, she’s written a book about her experiences.

Mulroy worked on the anode casting wheel in the copper refinery. Her job was to empty the molten metal arriving in hot cars from the smelter, into the furnace. It was hot, grimy work, but for Mulroy, the labour wasn’t the difficult part of her experience.

“Over the years, I was kind of a person who believed in people’s rights,” she says. “I was never quiet. So right off the bat, I started getting into trouble.” Continue Reading →

Economy ‘booming,’ Bigger says – by Mary Katherine Keown (Sudbury Star – June 28, 2019)

June 28, 2019 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

“We have the greatest concentration of hard-rock underground mining expertise in the world. All of this, as transportation and industry shifts from fossil fuels to battery-electric technologies that require nickel, copper, cobalt and lithium – all extracted from within our city and Northern Ontario.” Sudbury Mayor Brian Bigger.

Sudbury has a bright future, according to the  city’s mayor. During his fifth state of the city address Thursday, Brian Bigger praised the city he calls home and said others are starting to take note of local attributes.

“As the saying goes, ‘It’s all about the economy.’ But I say it’s all about the people. Cities and industries of the future are being built around expertise,” Bigger told a packed Caruso Club. “We have the greatest concentration of hard-rock underground mining expertise in the world.

All of this, as transportation and industry shifts from fossil fuels to battery-electric technologies that require nickel, copper, cobalt and lithium – all extracted from within our city and Northern Ontario.” Continue Reading →

[Falconbridge] ‘I thought the smelter had blown up’ – by Harold Carmichael (Sudbury Star – June 21, 2019)

June 21, 2019 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Glencore, Mining Accidents, Deaths, Cave-Ins and Industrial Disease, Mining Labour Issues and History – Sudbury and Global, Nickel, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin, Sudbury History

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Electrician Gary Hrytsak was taking a brief nap during a coffee break at the Falconbridge smelter complex about 10:05 a.m. June 20, 1984, when he got thrown off the bench he was on.

“It was an eerie feeling,” recalled the now-retired Hrytsak during his speech at the 35th Workers’ Memorial Day ceremonies at the Caruso Club on Thursday. “You could feel things shaking under your feet … I thought the smelter had blown up.”

Hrytsak, who went on to do compensation, health and welfare work for his union (Mine Mill and Smelter Workers Local 598), said he put on his respirator, went to the electrical shop and telephoned his foreman, only to be told to stay where he was. Continue Reading →

New play explores Sudbury’s labour strife – by Mia Jensen (Sudbury Star – June 20, 2019)

June 21, 2019 in Books, Art, Music and Photography About Mining and Northern Topics, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Mining Labour Issues and History – Sudbury and Global, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Conversations around a kitchen table are a common experience, but playwright Rick Duthie believes that in Sudbury, something has been missing from the discussion.

Duthie’s new play, One Day Stronger, explores Sudbury’s labour history from the perspective of Laurie, anchored to her kitchen table, who relives her childhood memories from the 1958 Inco strike to her present, at the end of the 1978 Inco strike.

With more than 20,000 people on strike in a city of just 75,000, the post-war Inco strikes were a time of tension, disunity, and emotional exhaustion. Duthie’s play explores these events from the intimate perspective of a family, and a girl at two different points in her life. Continue Reading →

Sudbury: Vale opens the books on Sudbury tailings dams following collapse in Brazil (CBC News Sudbury – June 19, 2019)

June 19, 2019 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Mining Environmental Accidents, Pollution, Tailing Dams and Abandoned Mines, Nickel, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin, Vale

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/

Mining giant releases report detailing its dozens of tailings dams in the Sudbury basin

Vale says it is currently doing work to stabilize some of its tailings dams in Sudbury, but stresses that there is no risk to the public.

The company this month released a report on the state of its dams around the world that it says was asked for by a large group of investors represented by the Church of England, following the collapse of a Vale dam in Brazil in January that killed 270 people.

The report includes dozens of dams that Vale manages in the Sudbury basin to hold mining waste, some dating back to 1929. Continue Reading →

Sudbury: Terry MacGibbon, former FNX Mining executive, shares secrets to his billion-dollar success (CBC News Sudbury – June 16, 2019)

June 18, 2019 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Junior Exploration Sector, Nickel, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/

MacGibbon has been at the helm of 4 mining companies

Terry MacGibbon has been a major player in Sudbury’s mining industry. He pulled the trigger on some million-dollar deals, including selling his company FNX Mining, and being the guiding force behind several other junior mining companies.

But during a recent Laurentian University graduation ceremony, where he was given an honorary doctorate, MacGibbon told CBC’s Morning North that he issued new graduates a challenge.

“Looking forward to the next 50 years, they have to solve the climate, like climate change and it’s not just a single thing that a government or a company can do,” MacGibbon said. “We all have to do it.” “We all have to make our choices of how we live.” Continue Reading →

After rubbing shoulders with U.S. presidents, Sudbury’s Leo Gerard coming home for retirement – by Heidi Ulrichsen (Northern Ontario Business – June 12, 2019)

June 17, 2019 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Mining Labour Issues and History – Sudbury and Global, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin, Vale

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Veteran USW boss speaks of growing up in Lively, his long career (including dancing with Michelle Obama) and his lasting impressions of a historic strike in Sudbury

After a career in which he rubbed shoulders with world leaders – including U.S. presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama – Steelworkers International president Leo Gerard said he’s retiring to his hometown of Sudbury. He said he still has a home and a camp here, despite working out of Pittsburgh.

“My kids and my grandkids are getting old,” said Gerard in a recent interview with Sudbury.com following the announcement last month he’s retiring as of mid-July. “I’ve got a camp on Nepewassi. I didn’t put my boat in for three years.”

The 72-year-old Gerard, who’s served the Steelworkers for more than 50 years, has been the Steelworkers International president since 2001. His successor is Tom Conway, who has served alongside Gerard as Steelworkers International vice-president. Continue Reading →

NEWS RELEASE: Cambrian College Named National Centre for Mining Applied Research

June 13, 2019 in Mining Education and Innovation, Sudbury Basin

SUDBURY – Cambrian College’s reputation for applied research has reached new heights. Today, the Government of Canada announced that Cambrian has been designated as a national Technology Access Centre (TAC), for its expertise in mining.

Cambrian’s TAC, to be known as the Centre for Smart Mining, is made possible through renewable funding of $1.75 million over five years from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). Making the announcement on behalf of the government was Nickel Belt Liberal MP Marc Serré.

“With its wealth of experience, infrastructure, expertise and existing relationships with industry partners, Cambrian is extremely well-positioned to advance entrepreneurial activity in mining technology,” says Marc Serré. ”We can confidently expect that through its Centre for Smart Mining, Cambrian will become an even greater resource for mining technology developers and producers in Nickel Belt/Greater Sudbury, Northern Ontario and around the globe.” Continue Reading →

Sudbury’s SAMSSA’s Dick DeStefano to retire July 31 – by Norm Tollinsky (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – June 2019)

June 11, 2019 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Mining Supply and Services Sector, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin

http://www.sudburyminingsolutions.com/

The founder and driving force of SAMSSA is packing it in after 16 years at the helm of the mining supply and service association.

Dick DeStefano, executive director of the Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association, was all set to retire 16 years ago when Paul Reid, a business development officer with the Sudbury Regional Development Corporation, pitched him on developing the potential of the city’s mining supply and service companies.

“We’re trying to diversify the city and we’ve got this collection of companies in the city’s industrial parks that have no profile, no mandate and don’t know where they’re going,” DeStefano remembers Reid telling him. Continue Reading →

Vale, Glencore both earn medals at annual mine rescue challenge – by Staff (Sudbury Northern Life – June 10, 2019)

June 10, 2019 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Glencore, Sudbury Basin, Vale

https://www.sudbury.com/

Jean-Yves Doiron, a mine rescue technician with Vale Canada in Sudbury, won the award for top technician

Mine rescue volunteers from K+S Windsor Salt Ojibway Mine donned the champions’ gold hard hats at the 70th annual Ontario Mine Rescue Provincial Competition last week. The event was held this year at the Red Lake Gold Mines in Red Lake, Ont.

K+S Windsor Salt Ojibway Mine was also awarded the John Guthrie (Special Equipment) Award during the closing banque June 7. The team won the Southern District mine rescue competition in Goderich in May.

The Windsor Salt mine rescue team consisted of: Captain Adam Schraeder, No. 2 Al Gernon, No. 3 Dillon Perry, No. 4 Joe Schraeder, Vice-captain Phillip Schraeder, No. 6 Ethan Kirby, Briefing Officer Matt Stefanic. Continue Reading →

COLUMN: ‘Moonscape’ Sudbury deserves global recognition for its environmental success – by Dr. John Gunn (Northern Ontario Business – June 7, 2019)

June 7, 2019 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Mining Environmental Accidents, Pollution, Tailing Dams and Abandoned Mines, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin, Sudbury History, Sudbury Laurentian University – Mining Faculties and Research, Vale

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Dr. John Gunn is the Canada Research Chair in Stressed Aquatic Systems and the director of the Vale Living with Lakes Centre in Sudbury.

Michael Moore’s recent documentary film about lead in drinking water in Flint Michigan has catapulted that city onto a growing list of places known for environmental disasters, including Chernobyl, Love Canal, Minamata, Bhopal, London with its great deadly smog of 1952, and the little town of Walkerton, Ontario, where seven died and more than 2,000 became sick because of E. coli contamination.

Positive environmental stories from specific places also exist, but like the evening news, the positive stories never get quite as much attention.

There are, however, some wonderful examples, such the Montréal Protocol and the Paris Accord, where a city’s name is forever linked to an event where world leaders came together to address global threats to the environment, such as the ozone depleting compounds in the atmosphere, or the severe threats of climate change. Continue Reading →

What The Heck Is That? — Our industrial Lake Louise – by Jim Moodie (Sudbury Star – May 16, 2019)

May 17, 2019 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Mining Environmental Accidents, Pollution, Tailing Dams and Abandoned Mines, Nickel, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin, Sudbury History, Vale

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Few people would mistake Sudbury for Banff, and yet there is one spot just northwest of the city off MR 35 that I like to think of as our own little Lake Louise.

Easily spied on the west side of the road near the turnoff to William Day Construction, its surface is a vivid turquoise that has no doubt caught the attention of a few passing motorists other than myself.

It jumps out just as much, if not more, when you look at it from an aerial, satellite perspective in Google Maps, its hue so distinct from the other water bodies around it — more San Jose teal than Maple Leafs blue. Continue Reading →

Vale still confident about nickel prices – by Staff (Sudbury Star – May 11, 2019)

May 15, 2019 in Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Nickel, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin, Vale

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

A deadly dam disaster in its home country of Brazil has put Vale SA in the red. On the bright side for Sudbury, however, the company remains cautiously optimistic about the demand and price for nickel.

Bloomberg News reports Vale suffered the first quarterly loss since late 2015 as the company set aside funds to cover damages, legal costs and other obligations related to the dam disaster that left hundreds dead in January.

The agency said he world’s largest iron ore producer set aside US$4.5 billion and posted a loss of $1.64 billion as the company comes under strict government scrutiny that resulted in authorities freezing billions of dollars of its assets to ensure the victims will be compensated and environmental remedies will be implemented. Continue Reading →