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NEWS RELEASE: Vale opens first new mine in Sudbury in over 40 years

(L to R) Cutting the ceremonial ribbon at the official opening ceremony of Totten Mine on February 21st, 2014 are: Conor Spollen, Vice-President, North Atlantic Projects, Vale; Rick Bertrand, President, United Steelworkers, Local 6500; Bob Booth, Totten Mine Manager, Vale; Hon. Marianne Matichuk, Mayor, City of Greater Sudbury; Kelly Strong, Vice-President, Ontario & UK Operations, Vale; Hon. Kathleen Wynne, Premier of the Province of Ontario, Hon. Michael Gravelle, Minister of Northern Development and Mines; Province of Ontario; Peter Poppinga, CEO of Vale Canada and Executive Director of Vale’s Global Base Metals; Chief Paul Eshkakogan; Rob Assabgui, General Manager, Mines & Mill, Vale.

http://www.vale.com/canada/EN/

Canada NewsWire – SUDBURY, ON, Feb. 21, 2014 /CNW/ – Vale celebrated the official opening of Totten Mine today in a ceremony with the Honourable Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario, the Honourable Michael Gravelle, Minister of Northern Development & Mines, members of the Sagamok Anishnawbek First Nation and many other community leaders.

“Totten Mine is Vale’s first new mine in the Sudbury Basin in more than 40 years and represents a significant investment in the future of our operations in Ontario and across Canada,” said Peter Poppinga, President & Chief Executive Officer of Vale Canada and Vale’s Executive Director of Base Metals and Information Technology.

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Environment takes precedence at Sudbury Vale’s Totten mine – by Lindsay Kelly (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – November 25, 2013)

Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal  is a magazine that showcases the mining expertise of North Bay, Timmins and Sudbury. This article is from the December, 2013 issue.

Water, emissions priorities for mine design

More stringent environmental oversight of new mine development means more work. But instead of a challenge, it’s actually made the pro­cess easier at Totten Mine because it allows Vale to meet industry expectations and be creative in its approach, said senior environmental specialist Allison Merla.

“There’s the opportunity here to do it right, right away,” said Merla, who acted as the environmental co-ordinator for the mine, ensuring Vale’s permits and requirements met current industry standards.

“If you’re looking at a legacy site that has always done something a certain way for years, and they’re working on some of the older permits or legislative requirements, it takes a while to instill that change. Here, we’ve built it right and we’re going to do it right.”

Every aspect of Totten was designed with the envi­ronment in mind, starting with its overall footprint. The headframe and main operations have been laid out on top of previous mine workings, while the Victoria Creek pumphouse, from which Vale gets its domestic water, has been retrofitted and upgraded to meet today’s standards.

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Sudbury Vale’s Totten mine boasts copper, nickel and PGMs – by Lindsay Kelly (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – November 25, 2013)

Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal  is a magazine that showcases the mining expertise of North Bay, Timmins and Sudbury. This article is from the December, 2013 issue.

The mineralization at Vale’s Totten Mine is so rich, ribbons of copper, nickel and precious metal can be viewed at surface just by walking through the parking lot.

“It’s pretty interesting for anybody who likes geology,” said Lance Howland, Totten’s chief mine geologist. “They can go out for their lunch break to look at exactly what’s here, and that’s pretty much what you’d see underground.”

Totten Mine is situated along the Worthington Offset, one of the fractures resulting from the creation of the Sudbury Basin 1.8 billion years ago. Offset deposits like Worthington were formed when pressure caused by molten material cooling around the basin pushed its way into a fracture.

“(The molten material) carried with it the copper, nickel and precious metals, and formed multiple deposits along that string. One of them was Totten Mine,” Howland said. “It’s a pretty unique story and we’ve got some very interesting deposits that a lot of people around the world have come here to see given how unique it is.”

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Vale’s Team Totten rises to challenge – by Norm Tollinsky (Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal – November 25, 2013)

Norm Tollinsky is editor of Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal, a magazine that showcases the mining expertise of North Bay, Timmins and Sudbury. This article is from the December, 2013 issue.

Ground conditions, water ingress and a 60-year-old timbered shaft among the challenges overcome

When Bob Booth and Gary Annett of the Totten project team hand over the reins to mine manager Dave Pisaric on December 31st, life won’t be near as exciting.

Few mine development projects go exactly as planned. Mother Nature can frustrate the intentions of the most experienced and skilled engineers and geoscientists, as happened at Totten when unfavourable ground conditions and water ingress began bogging things down.

The team stepped it up a notch, hunkered down…and saw it through. Vale decided against the engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) approach and kept the project management in house.

Annett, with the ominous title of Totten execution manager, was assigned to Totten in February 2008. A 15-year Vale and Inco mining engineer and alumnus of Laurentian University, Annett worked his way up through operations and spent eight years at the company’s Coleman Mine.

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Vale officially reopens Totten Mine in Sudbury after 40 years (CBC Sudbury News – February 21, 2014)

http://www.cbc.ca/sudbury/

Dignitaries, including Premier Kathleen Wynne, are in Sudbury today for the opening of the Totten Mine. The project is mining giant Vale’s first new mining operation in the Sudbury area in 40 years.

The Totten Mine was originally closed in 1972, but Vale found advances in mining technology that would make it possible to re-open the site.

Sudbury mining researcher and writer Stan Sudol said this is a good sign for the industry in northeastern Ontario. “Totten is an excellent example of using technology in the globally competitive world of nickel mining,” he said.

“And it also shows that even though we’ve been mining for 130 years in the Sudbury Basin, there’s a lot to be found. We just have to find it, we have to go deeper.”

The mine’s opening has not been without difficulty. The project was originally scheduled to open in 2011, and has cost Vale over $760 million so far. The mine is expected to employ about 150 people.

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Totten Mine re-opens in Sudbury (Morning North Markus Schwabe’s Interview With Stan Sudol – February 21, 2014)

http://www.cbc.ca/morningnorth/ The Totten mine is the first new mining project from Vale in forty years. It was originally closed in 1972. Mining analyst Stan Sudol spoke to us about what this new development means for the Sudbury region. Listen audio (runs 6:38) Click here for the interview: http://www.cbc.ca/morningnorth/past-episodes/2014/02/21/totten-mine-re-opens-in-sudbury/  

UPDATE 2-Vale may sell Brazil potash project on tax dispute -CEO (Reuters U.S. – February 19, 2014)

http://www.reuters.com/

BRASILIA, Feb 19 (Reuters) – Vale SA may sell a $4 billion potash fertilizer project in Brazil’s northeastern state of Sergipe if it is unable to reach a tax accord with municipal authorities, Chief Executive Officer Murilo Ferreira said on Wednesday.

Shareholders “cannot be subject to fiscal uncertainties” about the project Ferreira said during a hearing before a Senate committee in Brasilia. Vale, the world’s No. 3 mining company by market value, is the world’s largest iron ore producer and a growing fertilizer producer.

Vale plans to shut down its planning work at the site on Feb. 28 if there is no resolution, Ferreira said. Sergipe Governor Jackson Barreto said at the same hearing that the state will find a solution to the tax problem. The impasse stems from a battle between rival Sergipe towns Capala and Japaratuba over the location of the mine’s planned processing facility on their territory so they can reap the expected tax benefits.

“We won’t do anything to hurt the state, but lacking a political solution we’ll hire a bank to sell the project to somebody interested in developing it,” Ferreira said.

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Brazilian government to help pay for potash mine – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – February 18, 2014)

http://www.miningweekly.com/page/americas-home

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Brazil-focused fertiliser development firm Verde Potash on Tuesday said the Brazilian government would help fund construction of its flagship Cerrado Verde project, located within the country’s largest agriculture market.

The company announced that the project was selected to receive financing from a special financing programme of the government.

“Inova Agro’s decision is immensely important not only for Brazil, but for the world’s population, ever so reliant on Brazil’s food production. Thanks to a ground-breaking funding programme in the agriculture sector, Brazil takes a step towards reducing its economy’s debilitating dependency on imported potash,” president and CEO Cristiano Veloso said.

Inova Agro is a Brazilian government programme intended to fund innovative projects in the agriculture sector, including those focused on fertilisers. Selected projects would be considered for subsidised interest rates, equity investment and non-reimbursable project investment grants from the Brazilian Development Bank and/or the Financing Agency for Studies and Projects, both of which are arms of the Brazilian government with a mandate to support domestic projects.

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Vale Indonesia Targeting $112m in Profit, May Reduce Land Concession by Up to 44% – by Tito Summa Siahaan (Jakarta Globe – February 12, 2014)

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/

Jakarta. Vale Indonesia, the country’s largest nickel producer, has set its net income target at $112 million this year, according to a document presented during a hearing with members of the House of Representatives Commission VII overseeing mineral affairs.

The local outfit of Brazil’s Vale targets production of 79,691 metric tons of nickel matte this year, a slight increase from last year’s target of 79,500 tons, which is set to be missed due to operational disruption in the fourth quarter, the document showed.

“We expect to book sales of $1 billion, assuming that the price at the London Metal Exchange averaged $16,000,” Vale Indonesia president director Nico Kanter said at the parliament building.

The company may have missed its target of $213.6 million in net income last year due to a sharp decline in nickel prices, according to Nico.

The average nickel price for last year was $15,000, down from an average of $17,374 in 2012. He said the price of nickel is projected to recover this year thanks to the government’s decision to ban exports of unprocessed nickel ore, but trends for the first few months still showed price fluctuations.

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First Nation takes proactive approach with mining companies – by Jonathan Migneault (Sudbury Northern Life – February 11, 2014)

http://www.northernlife.ca/

Wahnapitae First Nation has taken a proactive approach to promote environmental sustainability in its dealings with mining companies like Vale, Glencore and KGHM. Since the early 1990s, the First Nation, located northeast of Sudbury, has worked to develop relationships with mining industry partners.

Cheryl Recollet, Wahnapitae First Nation’s environmental co-ordinator, said her department has developed in-house capacity over the past 15 years to conduct environmental assessments for mining companies who work near their reserve boundaries.

In 2012, Wahnapitae First Nation’s sustainable development department founded Tahgaiwinini Technical and Environmental Services Group. The company has four technicians and two advisers on staff, who provide mining companies with a variety of environmental management services.

The technicians are trained to use geographical information systems to map the flow of groundwater, plumes of air pollution, and provide information on the First Nation’s territory, species at risk, and traditional hunting territory.

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Vale in Canada: The deeper we dig down, the further we extend our reach

  http://www.vale.com/canada/EN/Pages/default.aspx “Every day, Vale works with our partners, employees and their families across Canada to better understand and support our communities, our planet and our people. Over the past four years we have invested more than $26 million in community-building initiatives in education, social services, health & wellness and the environment, helping to build …

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Antam and Vale Receive Green Light on Processed Mineral Exports – by Rangga Prakoso (Jakarta Globe – January 27, 2014)

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/

Antam and Vale Indonesia — two of the biggest nickel producers in the country — have secured a recommendation letter to export their processed mineral products, almost two weeks after the government enforced a ban on ore shipments.

“Vale and Antam don’t have any problems. The others simply have not submitted their respective proposals to the government, which is why I am calling on other miners to do so,” said Susilo Siswoutomo, vice minister at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, on Friday.

Susilo said the government has given Antam approval to export around 17,000 metric tons of ferronickel annually, while Vale is allowed 75,000 tons of nickel matte per year. He did not say whether Antam will be allowed to export its nickel ore.

The vice minister also confirmed the government’s intention to set a “maximum production limit” for minerals to ensure that newly-built smelters in Indonesia can be fed with adequate resources.

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NEWS RELEASE: Employees and OMA member Vale join forces for fundraising success

This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

Ontario Mining Association member Vale and United Steelworkers Local 6500 worked together to reach the fundraising goal of three-quarters of a million dollars for United Way/Centraide Sudbury and Nipissing Districts. The company and the union jointly announced this $750,000 charity-supporting success earlier this week.

“Achieving this fundraising goal speaks to the incredible generosity of our employees and their ongoing commitment to our community,” said Kelly Strong, Vice President of Vale’s Ontario and U.K. Operations. “It is an accomplishment we can all be proud of.” Mr. Strong is also serving as the 78th chairman of the Ontario Mining Association, which will be celebrating its 94 anniversary later this year.

Mr. Strong kept his promise to employees when the fundraising target was reached to acknowledge the achievement with a ceremonial head shaving. Patricia Mills, Publisher of Northern Ontario Business and Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal, who is United Way chair, performed the tonsorial manoeuvre at a public event.

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Vale uncertainty set to end in 2014 – Thompson Citizen Editorial (January 8, 2014)

The Thompson Citizen, which was established in June 1960, covers the City of Thompson and Nickel Belt Region of Northern Manitoba. The city has a population of about 13,500 residents while the regional population is more than 40,000. 

More than three years of uncertainty about the near-term future of Vale’s Manitoba Operations are about to end and that in and of itself is very good news for Thompson residents.

Whether it will be good news or bad news in an objective economic sense remains to be seen, but it will be substantive news, and given the uncertainty that followed the announcement on Nov. 17, 2010 that the smelter and refinery would close in 2015 – followed by even more uncertainty, as the Sword of Damocles hung over Birchtree Mine for 6½ months from Oct. 18, 2012 until last May 6, while the company considered returning it to care and maintenance – and you can perhaps better appreciate why any real and conclusive news out of Vale in relation to Thompson would be welcome at this point.

If you wonder what the effects of more than three years of uncertainty surrounding Thompson’s largest and most important employer have been, try putting your house up for sale right now or look around and see how many new investors have arrived in town since 2010. While houses have sold and investors have come, Thompson has been in something of a state of suspended animation – a city on hold – since that fateful November Wednesday more than three years ago now.

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Glencore, Vale slow to offer Sudbury mining plan details (CBC News Sudbury – January 7, 2014)

http://www.cbc.ca/sudbury/

Rumours continue to swirl about what the future looks like for Vale and Glencore in Sudbury. The two mining giants still aren’t talking publicly about plans to combine some operations.

Comments just before Christmas from Vale’s CEO indicated the two rivals are now in serious discussions about how to work more closely in Sudbury.

But one industry expert says details will be slow in coming. “I think we are going to see very little information come out that is public that we can actually evaluate,” said Bruce Jago, head of the Goodman School of Mines at Laurentian University.

“They are going to keep this really close to their chest.” Jago said he doesn’t think any new found co-operation between Vale and Glencore’s Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations will result in any major job losses.

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