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Sudbury Basin

Vale going remote in Sudbury to make mining safer – by Staff (Sudbury Star – January 17, 2024)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Among other steps, it has opened its Integrated Remote Operating Center that services its five underground mines in Sudbury

Vale Base Metals Limited and Epiroc Canada have signed a deal to develop, test and use what they call ‘groundbreaking’ techniques to make mining safer.

Vale said it plans to use Epiroc’s technology and digital advances in underground technology to remove employees from the rock face, production drilling areas and ground support locations in support of safe and efficient mining activities.

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‘No recent discussions’ on Sudbury mining merger, says Vale operations boss – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – January 15, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Gord Gilpin says companies discussing ‘strategic alternatives’ are part of ‘normal course of business’

Vale’s head of Ontario base metal operations, Gord Gilpin, is tamping down media speculation of a potential merger with Glencore, its crosstown mining neighbour in Sudbury.

Gilpin issued a Jan. 12 notice to its employees — Clarification of Synergy with Glencore — that it’s business as usual and no talks are underway.

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Conservative leader promises to speed approvals for new mines – by Jim Moodie (Sudbury Star – January 2024)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Pierre Poilievre also says Sudbury and its minerals have a big role to play in providing clean energy

Pierre Poilievre took advantage of the bracing conditions in Sudbury on Saturday to stress his plan for cheaper heating bills, as well as take some shots at his main political rival, who recently returned from a vacation in Jamaica.

“While Justin Trudeau flies around in a taxpayer-funded private jet, burning fuel and passing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, he punishes people for heating their homes,” said the Conservative leader, against the backdrop of an Axe the Carbon Tax billboard on Lorne Street. “He is a high-tax, high-carbon hypocrite.”

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Merger talks about the Sudbury mining camp long overdue, says industry watcher – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – January 12, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Stan Sudol sees synergies and cost savings if Glencore and Vale form mining joint venture in the Sudbury basin

Vale Base Metals chairman Mark Cutifani’s remarks this week to Reuters new agency about a pursuing a business combination between his company and Glencore in the Sudbury basin has mining analyst Stan Sudol wondering, “What took them so long?”

The Sudbury-raised and Toronto-based owner of the Republic of Mining website is a keen observer of the global nickel industry and of the Sudbury camp. Now is the “perfect time” for a business combination between Sudbury’s two largest miners, and one that’s long overdue, he said.

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New push to combine Glencore, Vale mining assets in the Sudbury basin – by Darren MacDonald (CTV Northern Ontario – January 11, 2024)

https://northernontario.ctvnews.ca/

The news service Reuters is reporting that the long dreamed of merger of Vale and Glencore mining assets in Sudbury basin could happen this year. “Talks for a Sudbury tie-up have been on and off since 2006, when annual savings were put at more than $500 million, with a number of options being touted for the mining and processing operations in the area,” the Reuters story said(opens in a new tab).

Brazil-based Vale purchased the former Inco for $19.6 billion in 2006. Talk of combining efforts in the area have surfaced from time to time, and an official with the company raised the issue recently, according to the Reuters story.

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Northeastern Ontario nickel miners not threatened by flood of the metal from Indonesia – by Kate Rutherford (CBC News Sudbury – January 03, 2024)

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

Environmentally sound production increasingly important factor in sourcing the critical mineral

Low nickel prices partly attributed to a flood of the metal coming onto the market from Indonesia aren’t deterring nickel miners in northeastern Ontario from moving forward in the coming year.

The price of nickel per pound was hovering around $7.42 US on January 1, 2024 compared to just under $14 a year prior. Paul Fowler is vice president of Magna Mining which owns the Shakespeare mine near Espanola and the Crean Hill mine near Whitefish.

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Bio-mining company to begin testing Sudbury mine waste – by Staff (Elliot Lake Today – December 28, 2023)

https://www.elliotlaketoday.com/

BacTech Environmental to run six-month pilot plant of its bioleaching mineral extraction technology

Testing of an innovative ‘green’ mining technology to extract valuable metals out of mine waste will start in Sudbury in early 2024. BacTech Environmental has a proprietary and environmentally friendly bioleaching process that it wants to test on mine tailings to extract small amounts of cobalt and nickel while it simultaneously cleans up the environment.

The bioleaching process involves using native and naturally occurring and harmless bacteria that can be trained in the lab to target certain ores and contain other substances that are harmful to humans.

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March: Updates on critical mining in northern Ontario – by By Norm Tollinsky (Canadian Mining Journal – December 21, 2023)

https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

When George Pirie, Ontario’s mines minister, closes his eyes and imagines what a resurgent northern Ontario mining industry will look like five years from now, he might see new nickel mines in Sudbury and Timmins, a battery industrial park in Cobalt, haul trucks transporting nickel concentrate on the recently completed road from the Ring of Fire, and multiple lithium mines and processing facilities in northwestern Ontario.

It is a good bet that much of the scenario will indeed materialize. The drills are confirming that the resources are there, the environmental assessments are progressing, and meetings with battery manufacturers and the automobile industry are resulting in offtake agreements.

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Science North CEO says changes made to manage capital projects after audit of Go Deeper project – by Kate Rutherford (CBC News Sudbury – December 08, 2023)

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

Provincial auditor general says cost of model mine project has tripled from original $5 million

The CEO of Science North said changes have been made at the science centre to take into account recommendations from the provincial auditor general’s probe of their Go Deeper project at Dynamic Earth.

Ashley Larose wants the public to know that while the budget has grown, the project is not operating at a deficit and all policies were followed in the development of the model mine at Dynamic Earth in Sudbury, Ont. Larose said the auditor’s report is based on information provided by the organization.

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Glencore’s ties to Sudbury run deep. So is its future here – by Hugh Kruzel (Sudbury Star – December 2, 2023)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Top company official tells chamber of commerce deep mining is the key to Glencore’s future operations in Sudbury

The man who leads Glencore’s Sudbury operations told the city’s business leaders this week that his company remains committed to this region, Canada and mining. Peter Xavier, a company vice-president, acknowledged that Glencore Sudbury’s Integrated Nickel Operations will soon close its Nickel Rim South mine, but that should not be a surprise.

Nickel Rim South Mine will close in late March as it goes into care and maintenance mode. The Skead-area mine’s employees will be reassigned to other Glencore operations in Sudbury, such as the Craig/Onaping project. “Mines have a life,” Xavier told the 128th annual general meeting of the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce. “We all know mining one site is finite.

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Three of Canada’s major critical mineral projects are in Sudbury – by Staff (Sudbury Star – November 22, 2023)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

They are Glencore’s Onaping Depth project, Vale’s Copper Cliff Deep project and KGHM’s Victoria Mine project

The federal government has launched a $1.5-billion fund for critical minerals infrastructure, while simultaneously highlighting close to 500 projects nationwide that are generating jobs and growing a greener economy. The funding announcement this week coincided with the release of an annual report on major projects underway across the country in the fields of energy, forestry and mining.

Three of the big mining projects are in Sudbury: Glencore’s Onaping Depth project, with an estimated capital cost of $1 billion to $2.5 billion; the Copper Cliff Deep project being pursued by Vale, pegged at $750 million to $1B; and a revived Victoria Mine project being undertaken in the Whitefish area by Polish company KGHM, at a projected cost of $1B to $2.5B.

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Researchers bring the ‘Sudbury method’ to Peru, to help clean up mine waste (CBC News Sudbury – November 18, 2023)

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

Scientists say work in Sudbury to rehabilitate the landscape damaged by mining is recognized worldwide

Researchers from northern Ontario are in Peru where they are sharing their knowledge of what has become known as the “Sudbury method.” The Sudbury method refers to the community’s work over decades to rehabilitate a landscape damaged by mining and smelting.

“Sudbury has become recognized almost globally now for taking one of the most damaged landscapes on planet Earth and through a lot of work by citizens, community members, industry and government, turning it into actually a really, really nice place to live,” said Graeme Spiers, an emeritus professor in environmental and earth sciences at Laurentian University.

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Two Sudbury mining giants partner as Nickel Rim mine ramps down – by Amanda Hicks (CTV Northern Ontario – November 2, 2023)

https://northernontario.ctvnews.ca/

Glencore’s Nickel Rim South Mine is winding down operations with an eye on closing in 2024. Vice-president Peter Xavier said the mine has been important to the company since its inception in 2010.

He said exploration extended the mine’s lifespan from 2021 to 2024, but Glencore has been planning its closure for some time. This will create an opportunity to partner with the city’s other mining giant, Vale.

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Glencore says Nickel Rim South mine in Sudbury slowing down, but not closing altogether – by Kate Rutherford (CBC News Sudbury – November 1, 2023)

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

Glencore says feasibility study looking at partnership with Vale is about to begin and will go into next year

It has been a good run at Glencore’s Nickel Rim South mine in Sudbury, but for the time being, mining there is coming to an end. The vice-president of Sudbury operations, Peter Xavier, says the 15-year-old mine will transition to what it calls “care and maintenance” by next spring.

But there is more mining to be done in that area, and the next steps in a potential joint venture with Vale are under the magnifying glass. Xavier explains there’s a portion of the ore body where the property boundaries shared by the two companies intersect, but is difficult for each company to mine separately.

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Mining almost done at Sudbury’s Nickel Rim South Mine – by Harold Carmichael (Sudbury Star – October 27, 2023)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Workers will be transferred to other Glencore operations in the city

The last scoop load of nickel/copper ore is expected to be hoisted to the surface at Nickel Rim South Mine sometime in late March as the mine goes into care and maintenance mode. By then, most of the Skead-area mine’s employees will have been reassigned to other Glencore Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations (Sudbury INO), such as the Craig/Onaping Depth Project.

As of his week, the mine was down to 250 employees as the process has already started. “(The mining) coming to an end,” said Gary Potts, director of Nickel Rim South, during an interview at a community open house on Thursday at the Skead Recreation Centre. “It’s gone three years longer than originally forecast.”

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