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Sudbury Basin

Contract talks ‘long and hard,’ Mine Mill says, but members approve contract – by Jim Moodie (Sudbury Star – February 2, 2021)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

The leader of a union representing Glencore workers said he was comfortable with the tentative deal reached over the weekend on a new contract, although it would up to the workers to decide.

And they did Monday, voting in favour of the new contract by a 67.8 per cent again. “The bargaining was very long and hard — many long nights,” said Eric Boulay, vice-president and acting president of Mine Mine Local 598/Unifor. “Our committee is confident they reached the most fair agreement that could be reached at this point.”

One of the sticking points in the talks, which went throughout the weekend, was a concession the company wanted regarding benefits, “but we were able to get that off the table,” said Boulay.

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Bittersweet victory for Sudbury woman who lobbied for dad’s health benefits – by Ron Grech (Sudbury Star – January 21, 2021)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Janice Martell worked on behalf of miners who had been exposed to McIntyre Powder

Janice Martell’s father Jim Hobbs didn’t live to see the fruits of his daughter’s lobbying efforts on behalf of miners who had been exposed to McIntyre Powder.

Hobbs, who worked at a uranium mine in Elliot Lake, developed Parkinson’s disease later in life and passed away in May 2017 at the age of 76.

Three years after his death, the Workplace Safety & Insurance Board acknowledged the “increased risk of Parkinson’s disease in McIntyre Powder-exposed miners.”

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Underground electric vehicle fire provides teaching moment for Sudbury miner – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – January 22, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Glencore shares investigation findings from summer 2020 electric arcing event and intense fire at Craig Mine

When a battery-electric vehicle (BEV) caught fire underground at Glencore’s Craig Mine in Onaping last July, it was a “big eye-opener” for the company, said Steve Holmik.

“No one’s ever had to deal with an incident like this in the past,” said Holmik, a mobile equipment specialist with Glencore Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations (SINO), who estimated this was the first reported underground BEV fire in Canada, and perhaps globally.

“We’ve had diesel equipment catch on fire, but we’ve never had a battery-electric vehicle catch on fire, so up until that stage, everything we knew about the potential of a fire with a BEV was all theoretical. We’d never had the first-hand experience of having to deal with it.”

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Vale confirms multiple seismic events at Creighton Mine – by Jay Baxter and Marina Moore (CTV Northern Ontario – January 16, 2021)

https://northernontario.ctvnews.ca/

SUDBURY — Earthquakes Canada has confirmed least two earthquakes in the Sudbury-area overnight originated from Creighton Mine.

Greater Sudbury lit-up social media Friday night to affirm the earthquakes that were felt by residents in the city’s south-end, Copper Cliff, Chelmsford, Valley, Flour Mill and New Sudbury areas.

In a media statement issued late Saturday morning, Vale confirmed multiple seismic events took place at the mine in the late evening hours of Jan. 15.

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Court orders Ontario government to pay family of late Sudbury mine worker $2M in damages (CBC News Sudbury – January 12, 2021)

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

A court has ordered the Ontario government to pay a Sudbury family over $2 million in damages, finding the province liable in the death of a mine worker in 2006.

Raymond Campeau, 47, died in May of that year working as a mechanic during the sinking of the shaft at Podolsky Mine.

His widow, Faye Campeau, has pushed for accountability from the provincial government ever since. She filed this lawsuit in 2018, claiming that the Ministry of Labour was liable in her husband’s death.

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NEWS RELEASE: VALE TO DEMOLISH STOBIE MINE NUMBER NINE SHAFT THIS WEEK

Sudbury Blast from Concrete Pictures on Vimeo.

Video Release December 10, 2020

SUDBURY, December 8, 2020 – Vale’s iconic Number Nine Shaft at Stobie Mine will safely come down this week. This activity follows the careful demolition of two other shafts at the site last week and a number of buildings at the site earlier this year.

“Number Nine Shaft is a concrete structure that is 95 metres high so it must be blasted down instead of dismantled,” said Patrick Boitumelo, Head of Mining & Milling for Vale’s North Atlantic Operations. “This demolition work has been carefully planned with a team of internal and external experts and is not expected to impact the community.”

Residences and businesses in close proximity to the mine site may hear or feel minor activity related to the demolition of the Number Nine shaft this week. Construction noise and dust mitigation will be in effect. For safety reasons, the public is asked to stay away from the construction site. No public access to the demolition site will be permitted.

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Sudbury mining execs recognized in book of global sector safety leaders Alicia Woods and Jody Kuzenko named Global Inspirational Women in Mining – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – November 19, 2020)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

A pair of mining executives from Sudbury has been included in the 2020 edition of the book 100 Global Inspirational Women in Mining.

Alicia Woods, founder and president of Covergalls, and Jody Kuzenko, president and CEO of Torex Gold Resources, have been recognized among 100 women from around the globe whose contributions are working toward a “stronger, safer and more sustainable mining industry.”

“Having visible role models is critical if we are going to attract and retain more women to help solve the challenges of global development and the responsible supply of resources for future generations,” said Carole Cable, chair of Women in Mining UK, in a Nov. 19 news release.

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NEWS RELEASE: 2020 Vale / USW Edgar Burton Christmas Food Drive Kicks-Off

SUDBURY, November 18, 2020 – The Edgar Burton Christmas Food Drive kicked off today in Vale’s Sudbury Operations and with an open invitation to the community to participate and contribute to this important campaign in support of the Sudbury Food Bank.

This year’s organizers turned their minds to how to safely run the beloved Sudbury holiday giving campaign amidst COVID-19, but Edgar’s unwavering commitment to supporting the community’s most vulnerable remains their inspiration, now more than ever.

Local businesses and organizations are encouraged to participate, either by collecting food donations or online financial donations. While organizers appreciate that contactless donations may be preferable and are certainly appreciated during this unprecedented year, they continue to graciously accept food donations from local businesses and organizations who have been such an important driver behind the food drive’s longstanding success. COVID-19 protocols have been put in place to ensure that volunteers and participant safety remains the top priority throughout the campaign.

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NEWS RELEASE: VALE TO DEMOLISH STOBIE MINE HEADFRAMES & BUILDINGS (October 13, 2020)

Photo Credit: Concrete Pictures Inc.

SUDBURY, October 13, 2020 – After more than 100 years of operation, the iconic headframes and other buildings at Vale’s Stobie Mine site will be demolished over the next few months. The demolition follows Stobie Mine operations being placed on care and maintenance in 2017.

“The aging headframes are being demolished to reduce maintenance costs and pave the way for potential new development currently being studied at the Stobie Mine site,” said Patrick Boitumelo, Head of Mining & Milling for Vale’s North Atlantic Operations.

This work will be completed between mid-October and mid-December, with all three headframes at Stobie Mine demolished. Shafts Seven and Eight will be dismantled by carefully removing pieces of the headframes from the top down starting October 13th. The Nine Shaft will be safely blasted down the week of November 9th. Some buildings at the site such as the crusher plant, mill and hoist building have already been removed with a few more also scheduled for demolition.

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Vale in talks with Tesla, EV sector for Canada nickel – executive (MiningWeekly.com – October 5, 2020)

https://www.miningweekly.com/

TORONTO – Brazilian miner Vale is in talks with Tesla and others in the electric vehicle (EV) supply chain about securing nickel from its Canadian operations, the head of the miner’s base metals unit said on Friday.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Tesla CEO Elon Musk in July urged miners to produce more nickel, a key ingredient in the batteries that power the company’s electric cars. Musk offered a “giant contract” if supplies could be produced in an environmentally sensitive way.

While EVs are expected to help reduce global carbon emission, environmentalists are concerned that production of EV parts and increased mining may damage the environment.

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Sudbury regreening program nearing 10 million trees planted: Restoration story serves as model for global push toward land reclamation – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – September 29, 2020)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

This autumn was supposed to herald a noteworthy milestone for the Sudbury regreening project: the planting of its 10 millionth tree.

But with the arrival of the novel coronavirus last March came a scaled-down 2020 planting season, and instead that marker will be celebrated in 2021.

Still, as year 42 of the one-of-a-kind land restoration initiative comes to a close, the organization leading the project believes that some areas of the city are nearing the point when human intervention will no longer be necessary and nature can start taking over.

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The Sudbury model: How one of the world’s major polluters went green – by Sara Miller Llana (The Christian Science Monitor – September 24, 2020)

https://www.csmonitor.com/

When the Superstack was constructed in 1972, it was the tallest structure in Canada – and the tallest smokestack in the world. At 1,250 feet, it’s visible from every vantage point in the area. It can be seen from the bustling streets of downtown to the quiet cul-de-sacs of residential neighborhoods. It looms large in the distance from highways that feed into a city that is home to one of the largest mining complexes in the world.

Built by Canadian company Inco before it was purchased by Vale, the Superstack has long stood as a reminder of the environmental devastation that mining wrought here. But this year the chimney is being fully decommissioned.

Residents of Sudbury harbor mixed feelings about the Superstack. Some see it as a memorial to their rise as a center of nickel and copper mining globally. Others see it simply as a familiar landmark that signals they are home. Gisele Lavigne lives in the Copper Cliff neighborhood at the Superstack’s base.

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Wanted: stories, memories and tales from the Inco strike of 1958 (CBC News Sudbury – September 22, 2020)

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

Elizabeth Quinlan wants to hear from people who lived through the 3-month strike

A professor of social studies in Saskatchewan is putting a call-out for stories from people who remember the Inco strike of 1958.

The strike involved 17,000 workers who were part of Mine Mill — then, one of the largest unions in Canada — who were pitted against Inco, a powerful company supplying 90 per cent of the world’s nickel.

Elizabeth Quinlan from the University of Saskatchewan is writing a book about the historic event and is looking for anyone who has memories of being affected by the strike.

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OPINION: New global standard on mine tailings management won’t prevent another Brumadinho – by Doug Morrison (Northern Ontario Business – September 22, 2020)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Doug Morrison is the president-CEO of the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI) in Sudbury.

The mining industry’s ingrained culture of safety needs similar approach in dealing with mine waste solutions

In August, the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) launched what it calls its new ‘Global Industry Standard on Mine Tailings,’ some 18 months after almost 300 people were killed by the catastrophic failure of a Vale iron ore tailings dam at Brumadinho in Brazil.

It is unlikely to be successful. The ICMM report is designed to improve operational control of the existing mine tailings management process and so reduce the consequences of another catastrophic failure.

Its members can take up to five years to implement the ‘Standard’ voluntarily, and the ICMM can only encourage non-member mines to adopt it.

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Two new smaller stacks are ready, decommissioning of Sudbury’s Superstack about to begin – by Molly Frommer (CTV News Northern Ontario – September 10, 2020)

https://northernontario.ctvnews.ca/

SUDBURY — Two new, 450-foot stacks are now fully installed and ready to replace the famous Superstack that has been in Sudbury for decades.

The $450 million project began in 2014, and managers with Vale say it was a companion effort to the Clean Atmospheric Emissions Reduction Project (AER).

“That Clean AER project was run in parallel to the service facilities upgrade,” said Darryl Cooke, Vale surface project and studies senior manager. “That was a billion-dollar project for atmospheric emissions reduction.”

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