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Sudbury Basin

Nickel Closest Thing to a True ‘War Metal’ – by Stan Sudol (Sudbury Northern Life – February 23, 2007)

Please note that this column is from 2007 – Stan Sudol

The metallic “Achilles heel” for any military and navel production has always been nickel

Sudbury was definitely going to be “nuked” by the Russians. At least that was our conclusion back in 1976 when I worked at CVRD Inco’s Clarabell Mill for a year.

During one graveyard shift, a group of us were talking about Cold War politics and atomic bombs. We all agreed that if there ever was a nuclear war between the Americans and Russians then there must have been one Soviet “nuke” with our community’s name stenciled on it. We all laughed a little nervously, but there was also some pride in knowing Sudbury was important enough to get blown-up in the first round of missiles.

Access to strategic materials has always affected the destinies of nations. The Romans conquered Britain in AD 43 to control valuable tin deposits in Cornwall. Combining tin with copper produces bronze, a more valuable and militarily important alloy. Ancient Chinese metallurgical expertise with iron and steel allowed the Middle Kingdom to become a dominate military and economic force during the prosperous Han dynasty.

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Return of Totten Mine comes at a good time – by Jim Moodie (Sudbury Star – February 22, 2022)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Price of nickel is soaring

Resumption of operations at Totten Mine comes at an opportune moment, with highly coveted nickel trading at more than US$11/pound. “We need all five (Vale) mines producing efficiently,” said Nick Larochelle, president of United Steelworkers Local 6500.

“The price of nickel right now is in a sweet spot. If it goes much higher, smaller producers will come online and that will add more nickel to the market, so we’re looking to keep our mines efficient and keep the price in that neighbourhood.”

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Northern Ontario’s mining memorials tell a tale of hard-fought labour protections – by Bill Steer (Bay Today – January 19, 2022)

 

https://www.baytoday.ca/

Back Roads Bill Steer is the founder and remains the GM of the Canadian Ecology Centre. He teaches part-time at Nipissing University (Schulich School of Education) and Canadore College. His features can be found across Village Media’s Northern Ontario sites.

With the help of the region’s scholars, Back Roads Bill recounts the struggles and horrific working conditions endured by early miners and the reason we should all remember them

It is part of a history lesson we know little about, so perhaps we need a little schooling. Envision hard rock miners, once toiling far underground in dark, cramped and dangerous conditions; it was arduous and risky work.

They emerged tired and dirty at the end of their shifts, walking back to small wood-sided homes and their immigrant families. Mining, along with forestry, created what was then called ‘New Ontario,’ — what we know as Northern Ontario.

Indigenous mining in the north began after the last period of glaciations, people of the Plano culture moved into the area and began quarrying quartzite at Sheguiandah on Manitoulin Island. Mining is an important economic activity in Northern Ontario. It has been since the first copper mines at Bruce Mines in 1846 and Silver Islet in 1868.

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Shakespeare Mine in Espanola closer to production as nickel prices hit 10-year high – by Casey Stranges (CBC News Sudbury – February 16, 2022)

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

Mitsui & Co, a Japanese mineral company, is partnering with Sudbury-based Magna Mining

A $16 million investment from Japanese mineral company Mitsui may lead to a reopening of the Shakespeare Mine near Espanola.

Magna Mining Company, a Sudbury-based junior mining operative, announced earlier in February that it had entered a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Mitsui, which would see the Japanese company’s acquirement of a 10 to 12.5 per cent interest in Magna’s Shakespeare Mine in exchange for between $8 million-$10 million in cash.

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Memory Lane: How Sudbury’s speed-skating miners edged out the competition in the 1930s – by Vicki Gilhula (Sudbury.com – February 9, 2022)

https://www.sudbury.com/

We’re digging into the region’s Olympic history this week in honour of Canada’s athletes currently competing at the Beijing Olympics

Every four years, Sudbury fans ignore the politics to enjoy the Olympics spectacle and cheer on athletic excellence.

With all eyes on the XXIV Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China, this month, it is fun to remember homegrown heroes who have competed for Canada with the whole world watching.

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Magna Mining signs MoU with Mitsui for Canadian mine (Mining Technology – January 31, 2022)

https://www.mining-technology.com/

Magna Mining has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Mitsui for a proposed joint venture (JV) arrangement for the Shakespeare mine in Canada.

The MoU allows the two firms to discuss the potential for Mitsui to purchase a stake between 10% and 12.5% in the Shakespeare Ni-Cu-PGM Mine for cash consideration ranging from $8m to $10m. The non-binding MoU, however, is restricted to a 2,590ha area of the over-18,000ha Shakespeare Project.

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Sudburians benefitting from strong nickel price – by Jim Moodie (Sudbury Star – January 29, 2022)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

The higher nickel prices of late bode well for the local economy, as bonuses paid to miners typically spill into the community. “That money is spent buying a new dishwasher, or renovating a little area in your home,” said Kevin Boyd, vice-president of Steelworkers Local 6500, which represents about 2,500 workers at Vale.

“When you have that many families getting a couple thousand bucks, or whatever it is, that’s good for local business, absolutely.” A perk also goes to the roughly 800 workers at Glencore, represented by Unifor, when the market is strong.

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The Drift: Sudbury’s outskirts remain mineral-rich ground for exploration outfits – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – Janaury 17, 2022)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Palladium company to release pre-feasibility study on open-pit River Valley mine project

Areas outside the Sudbury Basin are proving to be fertile ground for junior mining exploration companies probing for precious, base and so-called ‘green’ metals. Two projects are showing definite mining potential.

New Age Metals expects to release a pre-feasibility study this summer for a proposed open-pit mine at its River Valley project.

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Sudburians recall how the city banded together to weather the 1958 Inco strike – by Vicki Gilhula (Northern Ontario Business – December 24, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Just days before Christmas in 1958, some 14,000 Sudbury miners and their families got the news they had been praying for: the three-month strike at Inco was over. Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers Local 598 president Mike Solski announced an agreement had been reached with Inco.

A three-year contract and a six-per-cent wage increase over three years was offered. This amounted to pennies on the hourly wage at the time of less than $3, but union leaders considered the settlement a victory.

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Historic Monel: the alloy that time forgot – by James E. Churchill (The Nickel Institute – March 23, 2021)

https://nickelinstitute.org/

James E. Churchill believes that telling the history of Monel and renewing the scientific data will empower conservators to educate and preserve key metallurgical heritage.

In 2019 I was introduced to a material I had only heard of in passing, Monel®*. Having previously come across it through the wrought craft of Samuel Yellin, a field trip to the southern tip of Manhattan placed me in front of a gleaming Monel elevator in an art-deco lobby. My interest was piqued. What was this alloy, how was it used and was it still popular?

In an attempt to hunt down interiors, I found redevelopment of department stores and banks, where the metal had flourished, had sadly led to total loss. I also discovered I was not alone in my ignorance.

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The long climb out of Totten – by Angelica Zagorski (CIM Magazine – November 25, 2021)

https://magazine.cim.org/en/

The evacuation and investigation of the Totten mine incident

his was not your typical mine rescue, Ted Hanley, general manager of Ontario Mine Rescue, recalls thinking when he received a call from Vale’s Totten mine in Sudbury at 2 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 27. At that time, Vale decided it would bring its workers out of the mine via secondary egress after a scoop bucket was slung into the Totten mine and became lodged in the shaft trapping 39 miners at the 650-foot level.

Even though what the miners were doing was common, the incident was not. Hanley said this rescue mission was different because of the atypical use of the ladderways in the mine. Miners are used to climbing 100 to 200 feet to another level, where they can get a ride in a vehicle and travel via a ramp system out or to their next workstation.

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Sudbury’s Totten Mine expected to be closed until 2022, as investigation continues – by Erik White (CBC News Sudbury – November 3, 2021)

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

Ministry of Labour inspectors have issued 10 orders against Vale for health and safety violations

A northern Ontario mine remains closed more than a month after the dramatic rescue of 39 Vale miners.

The shaft at Vale’s Totten Mine, on the western reaches of Greater Sudbury, is still blocked by a piece of equipment and how much damage it caused continues to be investigated.

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Vale says it continues to upgrade its tailings dams in Greater Sudbury – by Jonathan Migneault (CBC News Sudbury – November 3, 2021)

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

Vale says it inspects its more than 40 tailings dams in Greater Sudbury every day

Two years after a dam collapse in Brazil that killed more than 250 people, Vale has said it has continued to upgrade its tailings dam infrastructure in Greater Sudbury.

In the last 15 years, the mining company has upgraded five dams in the Copper Cliff region which were built using what the industry calls the upstream method. That is when the tailings materials themselves — which are the rock waste byproduct of mine milling operations — are used to build a dam.

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Living With Lakes Centre director says Laurentian must not abandon its environmental legacy – by Heidi Ulrichsen (Sudbury.com – November 1, 2021)

https://www.sudbury.com/

John Gunn said he fears the purpose-built Ramsey Lake Rd. research centre could even be sold for development by cash-strapped LU; ‘No one can confirm otherwise’

Laurentian University must not abandon its legacy of being a global leader in the environment as it restructures, the director of the Vale Living with Lakes Centre told the LU board of governors at their Oct. 29 meeting.

Back in April, Laurentian made massive cuts to its programs and employees. Among the programs cut were some related to the environment. That includes undergraduate programs in ecology, environmental science, environmental studies, major restoration ecology and restoration biology.

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Sudbury Accent: LU researcher tackles ‘the next frontier’ of Sudbury’s regreening program – by Colleen Romaniuk (Sudbury Star – October 22, 2021)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

A researcher at Laurentian University’s Living with Lakes Centre is planting the seeds for a more sustainable and environmentally friendly land reclamation process.

Jonathan Lavigne has partnered with Collège Boréal to explore the potential for pulp and paper mill waste and municipal biosolids as an alternative to the lime and fertilizer method of treating soils damaged by years of acid rain deposition.

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