Vale – Page 77 – Republic of Mining

Former Vale worker vindicated by OLRB ruling – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – February 25, 2012)

February 25, 2012

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Brian Miller has lived in Sudbury since 1979, but, for the last two years, he has felt like an outcast. Miller, 42, was one of nine Steelworkers fired during the union’s year-long strike against Vale Ltd. from July 2009-2010. (One retired after the strike.)

Miller worked his last shift as a development miner at Frood Mine on May 28, 2009. He had 13 years with the company when his union went on strike July 13 of that year.

He was fired Feb. 23, 2010, in the midst of the most bitter labour dispute to rock the Nickel City in decades.

Miller was pleased to learn Friday the Ontario Labour Relations Board had ruled his dismissal, and those of Steelworkers Ron Breault, Mike Courchesne, Adam Cowie, Dan Labelle, Mike French, Jason Patterson and Patrick Veinot, will go to arbitration.

Vale firings breached act: OLRB – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – February 25, 2012)

February 25, 2012

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

A provincial arbitrator will decide if the firings of eight Steelworkers during their yearlong strike against Vale Ltd. were justified after a ruling Friday by the Ontario Labour Relations Board.

The board directed arbitration of the men’s dismissals on a just cause standard more than two years after their union, United Steelworkers, filed a bad-faith bargaining complaint against the Brazil-based miner.

The original complaint was filed Jan. 13, 2010, at the six-month mark of a bitter strike by 3,400 USW members in Sudbury and Port Colborne.

The complaint changed during the two years from one about Vale refusing to collectively bargain to whether the firings of nine men during the strike should be sent to arbitration.

(One of the fired men retired at the end of the strike.)

Record Nickel Supply Expanding Glut Thwarts Bull Market Rally: Commodities – by Jae Hur and Ichiro Suzuki Bloomberg.com – February 22, 2012)

February 23, 2012

www.bloomberg.com

Mining companies and refineries are producing more nickel than at any time in history, expanding a glut that threatens to reverse this year’s rally.

Production will exceed demand by 45,000 metric tons, a 73 percent jump from 2011, Barclays Capital estimates. That’s equal to 46 percent of stockpiles tracked by the London Metal Exchange. Refined output will rise 12 percent, the most in at least eight years, according to Morgan Stanley. Prices, which rose 7.8 percent to $20,170 a ton this year, may fall as much as 13 percent to $17,630 a ton by Dec. 31, the median of 11 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg shows.

Metals have returned to a bull market from a 22 percent slump last year on an improving outlook for global growth with manufacturing in the U.S. capping the biggest two-month increase in more than two years in January and unexpectedly gaining in China. With new supply expected from Australia to Madagascar to Brazil, consumption still won’t expand fast enough to absorb the extra metal. Most markets for stainless steel, accounting for 76 percent of nickel demand, remain “depressed,” Deutsche Bank AG said in a report Feb. 15.

NEWS RELEASE: Vale Celebrates Sudbury Saturday Night with a $150,000 Donation to the Human League’s P.L.A.Y. Program

February 13, 2012

(left to right) Rod LaRoque, President, The Human League; John Pollesel, Chief Operating Officer, Vale Canada and Director of Base Metals for Vale's North Atlantic Region; Kelly Strong, Vale's Vice-President Mining and Miling for the North Atlantic Region and General Manager, Ontario Operations; Dana Marshall, Executive Director, The Human League; and Jerry Beaudry, Fundraising Coordinator, The Human League.

For Immediate Release

SUDBURY, February 13, 2012 – Vale celebrated another Sudbury Saturday Night on February 11th, with a $150,000 donation to the Human League’s Positive Leisure Activities for Youth (P.L.A.Y.) Program over the next three years.

“No child should have to miss out on playing a sport due to financial constraints,” said John Pollesel, Vale’s Chief Operating Officer, Vale Canada and Director of Base Metals for Vale’s North Atlantic Region. “Vale is pleased to support the Human League’s P.L.A.Y. Program and to provide the means for youth in our community to reach their potential through extracurricular activities.”

The Human League’s P.L.A.Y. Program removes financial barriers to extra curricular activities by providing registration and equipment costs for children to participate. The program focuses on a child’s self-image and self-esteem by giving him or her the necessary tools to access recreation in the community. Since its inception in 2003, the P.L.A.Y. program has helped over 4,800 children in the community get involved in hockey, soccer, music, dance and art programs.

[Vale Sudbury’s] Copper Cliff Mine first to resume production – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – February 10, 2012)

February 10, 2012

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Vale Ltd. is ramping up to resume production at Copper Cliff Mine this weekend, almost three weeks after production was halted at all five Sudbury mines after a Jan. 29 fatal accident at Coleman Mine in Levack.

The mines were closed for a safety pause after experienced development miner Stephen Perry, 47, was killed while operating machinery at the 4,215-foot level of the main ore body at Coleman.

The company and its employees, both union and non-union, have been working together since Perry’s death to ensure the mines are safe for about 1,550 production and maintenance workers when they return.

Vale’s Angie Robson said she expects most of the company’s mines will be back in production by the end of next week. “At Creighton Mine, we are working on some maintenance of our shaft, and expect to start production there by the last week of February,” said Robson.

[Sudbury Vale] Workers back after fatality – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – February 3, 2012)

February 3, 2012

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

As a memorial mass is being said today for a veteran miner killed on the job, crews will start returning to five Vale mines where production was suspended after the fatality.

Stephen Perry, 47, died Sunday afternoon after being struck by rock while working on a piece of loading equipment at the 4,215-foot level of the main ore body at Coleman Mine in Levack. Hundreds of people, including about 45 family members from his native Newfoundland, were expected to attend the 10 a.m. service.

About 1,550 production and maintenance workers have been off the job, with pay, since Perry was killed. While some will start returning to work, the focus will remain on safety and not production, said Vale spokeswoman Angie Robson.

Returning workers will be “focused on tasks associated with safety and risk management, and not production-related work,” said Robson. “There is still no timeline on when our mines will return to production.”

Another death at Vale’s Sudbury mines – Editorial (Northern Miner – February 6-12, 2012)

February 2, 2012

The Northern Miner, first published in 1915, during the Cobalt Silver Rush, is considered Canada’s leading authority on the mining industry.

The month of January closed out with Vale having temporarily halted all underground mining at its five nickel mines in Sudbury, Ont., following the death of a miner at the Coleman mine on Jan. 29.

Miner Stephen Perry, 47, was working on the 4,215-ft. level when he was struck by “what appears to be a displacement of material or rock from the development face in the main orebody,” commented Kelly Strong, Vale’s North Atlantic vice-president of mining and milling, in an early Jan. 30 news conference.

Perry was brought to surface where he was pronounced dead by medical personnel, said Strong, who extended his condolences to the miner’s family and friends. He had been with the company for 16 years. This is the fourth fatality in seven months at Vale’s Canadian operations, and the third death at the company’s Sudbury mines.

Vale, [Sudbury] union agree to work together – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – February 2, 2012)

February 2, 2012

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

United Steelworkers Local 6500 and Vale Ltd. have agreed to conduct a joint investigation into the death of veteran miner Stephen Perry at Coleman Mine on Sunday.

Six people — three from the company and three from the union — will meet Thursday to begin work on the investigation into the fatal accident.

The shutdown at Vale’s five Sudbury mines will continue so the focus remains squarely on safety, and not on production, said Angie Robson. Local 6500 president Rick Bertrand said he was happy the two sides agreed to work together.

“Hopefully, things will be much better here on in,” in terms of both safety and labour relations, said Bertrand.

Mine production was halted Sunday after Perry, 47, was killed while operating a loader at the 4,215-foot level of the Coleman shaft of the main order body at mine in Levack.

Joint [Vale/union] investigation preferable in accidents – Editorial by Brian MacLeod (Sudbury Star – February 1, 2012)

February 1, 2012

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

The tragedy of death underground has revisited Sudbury in a manner that leaves all of us asking how this could happen again at a company that has more than 100 years of experience in mining.

Stephen Perry, 47, a 16-year miner at Vale, died at the 4,215-foot level at Coleman Mine in Levack on Sunday after he was struck by loose rock while he was working at a development heading.

The incident happened just days after Vale officials presented their findings about the deaths in June of two miners, Jason Chenier and Jordan Fram, after they were overcome by 350 tonnes of muck and sand while they were working at the 3,000-foot level of Stobie Mine.

Vale has suspended all five of its underground mining operations, affecting more than 1,500 workers, in order to come up with plans to ensure a safe working environment.

Mass for killed [Vale Sudbury] miner set for Friday – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – February 1, 2012)

February 1, 2012

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

A memorial mass will be held Friday at 10 a.m. at Christ the King Church for Stephen Perry, who was killed Sunday afternoon on the job at Coleman Mine in Levack.

Perry was from Corner Brook, Nfld., but had worked with Inco and Vale for 16 years. Vale vice-president Kelly Strong called Perry a skilled and experienced miner who was respected by his colleagues. Family in Newfoundland said he was a kind and giving man, who would do anything to help someone in need.

Perry is survived by a daughter and several siblings.

Vale suspended operations at all five Sudbury mines after Perry was killed working on a piece of machinery to load blasting equipment to open up the 4,215-foot heading off the Coleman shaft in the main ore body.

The Ontario Ministry of Labour and Greater Sudbury Police Service have been at the site beginning their investigations. Vale and the union representing Perry, United Steelworkers Local 6500, will also conduct investigations.

Closed [Vale shuts down Sudbury’s underground operations after latest fatality]- by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – January 31, 2012)

January 31, 2012

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Vale Ltd. has temporarily suspended operations at its five Sudbury mines as the company steps back, pauses and focuses on a plan to make its operations safer after an experienced miner was killed Sunday at Coleman Mine.

Kelly Strong, vice-president of mining and milling for Vale, said 1,550 miners are off the job, with pay, while Vale managers meet with the joint health and safety committee to devise an action plan before the mines are reopened.

Until that plan is drafted, Strong couldn’t predict when the mines would reopen. It’s the first time in the 11 years he has been with Vale that it has suspended operations at all mines after a fatality at one of them, he said.

Vale employs 400 production and maintenance workers at its Coleman and Stobie mines, 350 at Creighton Mine, and 200 at each of Garson and Copper Cliff mines.