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[Roger Agnelli] Brazil pressures Vale to invest inward – by Peter Koven (National Post-March 29, 2011)

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper. This article was originally published in the Financial Post on March 29, 2011. pkoven@nationalpost.com

TORONTO — In Brazil, politics appear to be trumping profits. President Dilma Rousseff’s government is working hard to force the chief executive of mining giant Vale SA out of his job. Despite Vale’s tremendous success in recent years, the government wants the company to change its investment focus in order to boost Brazil’s economy.

As CEO, Roger Agnelli played a key role in transforming Vale into a global powerhouse from its humble roots as a state-owned company, making it a huge winner for investors in the process. The company earned a net profit of US$17.3-billion last year, and sports a market value of almost US$170-billion.

A change at the top could have huge implications in the global mining industry. If Vale is forced to look inward in Brazil, it leaves a question mark over its international assets, including all the Canadian ones it acquired when it bought Inco Ltd. for about $19-billion.

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[Roger Agnelli] Brazil and Vale, At a Crossroads – by Stuart Burns (Metal Miner-March 29, 2011)

MetalMiner blog provides unique insight, analysis, and tools for buyers, purchasing professionals, and everyone else for whom metals and their related markets matter.

Stuart Burns

We have written on several aspects of business and the metals markets in Brazil recently; the latest just last week about Gerdau Steel raising billions in a share sale with the probable intent of bidding for one or more of its major domestic competitors. Generally that is taken as a positive sign; although to invest in new facilities for organic growth rather than acquisition would be better, at least buying competitors is a vote of confidence in the economy’s future.

So what should we make of the spat developing between the government of new president Dilma Rousseff and Vale, reported in an FT blog article? Apparently, Vale’s high-profile chief executive Roger Agnelli’s contract is coming up for renewal in May and the government is making every effort to prevent his re-appointment. Although Vale was privatized in 1997, the firm is Brazil’s largest exporter and along with Petrobras, the national oil company, a major source of foreign exchange and tax revenue. Vale tripled profits last year to $17 billion on the back of some $47 billion in revenues according to an FT article this week.

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Sustainability In Nickel Projects: 50 Years of Experience at Vale Inco – by S.W. Marcuson, J. Hooper, R.C. Osborne, K. Chow and J. Burchell (December 1, 2009)

The principal author, Dr. Sam Marcuson ( Sam.Marcuson@valeinco.com ) is vice-president, business improvement for Vale Inco Limited, Mississauga, ON, Canada. This article was adapted from a plenary speech made at the CIM Conference of Metallurgists held August 2009 in Sudbury, Ontario. The full paper is available from the author or the conference proceedings.

Looking at the industry’s past and present with a view to projecting into the future can be a valuable exercise for executing and maintaining sustainable development

The first eight years of this century saw rapid growth in the consumption and production of nickel and related commodities. In response to growth in the BRIC countries, but especially China, new projects, many in under-developed countries, were initiated. Nickel pig iron, produced in aging Chinese blast furnaces, unexpectedly emerged. Simultaneously, scientists concluded that global warming is “unequivocal” and human activity is the main driver, “very likely” (>90%) causing most of the rise in temperatures since 1950[1]. These factors point to a future in which sustainable development becomes of paramount interest to the mining and metallurgy industry.

To the practicing metallurgist and operator, “sustainability” may appear as keeping employees safe, meeting prevailing environmental regulations and contributing to social programs contractually agreed to, while maintaining a low-cost operation that meets production and financial targets. But this is a highly simplified view that ignores many of the sustainability concepts.

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Vale CEO Roger Agnelli Takes Technology Underground – by Susan Caminiti (NYSE Magazine)

This article is from the First Quarter 2011 issue of NYSE Magazine, a quarterly publication of NYSE Euronext, provides insights into the world’s best companies, giving readers a close-up look at the distinguished leaders that constitute the NYSE community. Each issue centers around opinions, strategies and ideas from senior executives who lead the corporate world, focusing on what makes companies succeed.

“What we are investing in new technologies – to reduce emissions, to develop new products and to [be] more cost-efficient – will drive Vale’s growth.” – Roger Agnelli, president and CEO, Vale

Iron Man

With skills in banking and a passion for engineering, Agnelli aims to make Vale the biggest mining company in the world.

In northern Brazil, in the heart of the Amazon rain forest, is the Carajás mining complex, where a reported 300,000 tons of iron ore are extracted each day. To ensure that the mines at Carajás are working as efficiently as possible, owner Vale SA (VALE), Brazil’s largest mining company as measured by revenue, built an operational control center within the complex in 2007 that essentially acts like the mine’s brain, explains President and CEO Roger Agnelli.

He says everything to do with operations within the enormous mine — the equipment used there, treatment plants for the ore, and dispatch facilities — is monitored and controlled remotely through the use of satellites. Engineers, he points out, can see what’s happening at any stage of production: how a particular piece of equipment is working, for example, or how much ore is in a crusher at any given moment. They can also make corrections or changes in real time.

Walking through this control center and visiting Vale’s geologists and engineers to see what new ideas they have dreamed up is one aspect that Agnelli, 50, says he truly enjoys about his job. “I’m crazy about technology and innovation,” he says from the company’s Rio de Janeiro headquarters. “I love to visit the different operations to see what they’re working on and how they’re figuring things out.” Agnelli oversees a global mining empire with 115,000 employees (its own and contractors) spread across 38 countries on five continents.

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Why I Support the People of Thompson, Canada — And You Should Too – by Michael Moore (February 25, 2011)

Michael Moore is an Academy-Award winning filmmaker and best-selling author. http://www.michaelmoore.com/

To people down here in the U.S., Thompson, Canada and its fight with the Brazilian mining giant Vale may seem very far away. It’s not.

(Don’t be embarrassed if you need a map to find Thompson, though — blame the U.S. media, which will only tell you about Canadians if they have some connection to Justin Bieber.)

Right now Thompson is fighting a frontline battle in a war that’s been raging for the past 30 years — the global war of the world’s rich on the middle class. It’s a war the people of Flint and all of Michigan know much too well. It’s a war going on right now in Wisconsin. And it’s a war where the middle class just won a round in Egypt. (You probably didn’t know — because the U.S. media was too busy telling you about Justin Bieber — that Gamal Mubarak, son of Egypt’s dictator and his chosen successor, worked for years for Bank of America.)

Here’s what’s happening in Thompson, and why it matters so much:

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Mining for victory [Inco, Nickel, World War Two] – by Stan Sudol (National Post – August 25, 2005)

Inco World War Two Poster
Inco World War Two Poster

Stan Sudol is a Toronto-based communications consultant who writes extensively on mining issues. stan.sudol@republicofmining.com

The Royal Canadian Mint last spring introduced the Victory Anniversary Nickel to commemorate the sacrifices and achievements of our fighting forces in the Second World War. In Sudbury and Port Colborne, Ont., that victory coin has many additional memories, especially for Inco Ltd and its work force.

During the war years, International Nickel Company of Canada, as it was known back then, and its employees in Sudbury and Port Colborne, supplied 95% of all Allied demands for nickel — a vital raw material critical for our final victory.

In fact, for much of the past century the leading source of this essential metal was the legendary Sudbury Basin; the South Pacific island of New Caledonia came a distant second. Until the mid-seventies, Sudbury supplied up to 90% of world demand during some periods.

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Thompson Citizen Editorial: Hats off to the save-the-smelter team (February 23, 2011)

This article was originally published in the Thompson Citizen which was established in June 1960. The Citizen 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.

February 23, 2011

While we haven’t written in this space about the local Vale refinery and smelter saga since Jan. 5, it hasn’t been for lack of interest in recent weeks. Rather, we stepped back to watch events unfold and see how things play out a bit before offering our two cents again from the cheap seats.

At the same time, however, we are cognizant that some things merit commenting on along the way before the final chapter is written in this story, which is likely some time away given the final shutdown isn’t scheduled until 2015. It’s probably trite but nonetheless true to observe the obvious: a lot can happen in four years.

Last week, the save-the-smelter team as they’re sometimes dubbed by us (it includes the refinery, too, of course, but there are only so many words you can include in a catchy headline), travelled to Toronto again to meet with Tito Martins, chief executive officer of Vale Canada and executive director of base metals for the international parent company, and his senior management team, and deliver proposals aimed at keeping the smelter and refinery open beyond 2015 with those 500 “value-added” jobs Thompson NDP MLA and Infrastructure and Transportation Minister Steve Ashton often mentions, rightly stressing those two words – value added.

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Michael Moore delivers the goods for [Thompson NDP MP] Niki Ashton [on Vale Shutdown] – by John Barker (February 25, 2011)

This article was originally published in the Thompson Citizen which was established in June 1960. The Citizen 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. It was written by editor John Barker and published on February 25, 2011.

editor@thompsoncitizen.net

It took more than a month, but Churchill riding NDP MP Niki Ashton has got her wish: American left-wing filmmaker Michael Moore has featured Thompson and Vale’s plan to shutdown the smelter and refinery here by 2015 on his website.

But in an even bigger coup, The Huffington Post, perhaps the most important English-language liberal political blog in the world, picked up at 12:02 EST Moore’s blog entry today on Vale and Thompson — which is hitting the social media jackpot. New York City-based HuffPo was sold by founder Arianna Huffington earlier this month for $315 million to AOL Inc., formerly America Online, and had a reported 40 million unique visitors in January.

A Thompson Citizen online poll that ran from Feb. 9 to Feb. 15 asked readers, “What do you think of Churchill riding MP Niki Ashton’s attempt to enlist left-wing US filmmaker Michael Moore in the battle to save the Vale refinery and smelter in Thompson?”

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An Overview of Nickel in 2011 – Excerpt From Global Mining Finance 2011

Global Mining Finance was created four years ago as an annual book to provide international mining executives and their peers in the financial community with an overview of the industry from a World-wide perspective. For the main website: http://www.globalminingfinance.com/past-editions.html

The following research on nickel was provided by Paradigm Capital, a research-driven investment dealer, providing Research, Trade Execution and Investment Banking services.

Commodity Focus – Nickel

Two-thirds of all nickel produced goes into stainless steel, but is also important in the world of hi-tech where the soft magnetic properties of nickel and its alloys are employed. In this article, Paradigm Capital takes a look at the market for nickel.

Demand: Driven by The Stainless Steel Recovery

Nickel has a high rate of recyclability, This distinction is often made between the use of newly produced metal and recycled scrap. By far the most important first use of nickel is the production of stainless steel which accounts for over 60% of total demand with other first-use sectors being alloys, casting, electroplating, chemicals and batteries. The stainless steel sector is growing at a CAGR of about 5-6% per annum.

The nickel market rebounded strongly in 2010 compared to a very weak 2009, as a result of improved stainless steel demand conditions in combination with an amplified restocking period. In addition, the austenitic ratio (i.e. nickel bearing stainless steel) which has traditionally run at around the 75% level, has slipped lower. This was due to nickel’s meteoric price rise in 2007 to $25/lb. which proved to be the catalyst that triggered substitution, particularly into lower nickel bearing intra stainless steel grades. This proved to be one of the double whammies.

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Vale’s Manitoba Operations corporate affairs co-ordinator Penny Byer backs MP Niki Ashton [Vale Job Cutbacks] (November 20, 2010)

This article was originally published in the Thompson Citizen which was established in June 1960. The Citizen 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.

“Today, Vale ripped the heart out of Thompson.” Ashton said: “Good job standing up for us Niki…” Byer writes on Facebook

November 20, 2010

By John Barker
editor@thompsoncitizen.net

In a public posting on Facebook Nov. 19 to NDP Churchill riding MP Niki Ashton’s “wall,” Penny Byer, co-ordinator of corporate affairs for Vale’s Manitoba Operations, writes, ” Good job standing up for us Niki…”

Byer is also a rookie Thompson city councillor, garnering 1,913 votes for second place in the Oct. 27 municipal election, finishing only behind veteran Coun. Stella Locker.

Byer is a former CBC Radio journalist, who spent time in Churchill, and a long-time veteran of the corporate affairs, or public and government affairs department, as it has been also called in recent years, at Vale’s Manitoba Operations here in Thompson.

She was in charge of the four-page employee newsletter EXTRA, which Vale killed off with its Dec. 19, 2008 issue, and its successor the four-page NickeLinks, which began publishing in April 2009.

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Thompson Citizen Editorial: Thompson residents resilient [Vale Job Cutbacks] (November 24, 2010)

This article was originally published in the Thompson Citizen which was established in June 1960. The Citizen 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.

Thompson Citizen Editorial – November 24, 2010

In terms of dark days for Thompson, Wednesday, Nov. 17 ranks right up there near the top. Brazilian mining giant Vale announced plans to phase out its smelting and refinery fully integrated surface operations at Manitoba Operations by 2015, eliminating 500 jobs or 40 per cent of its local workforce, and focus on “developing new sources of ore as it transitions its operations to mining and milling….”

The estimated payroll hit to Thompson for job losses of that magnitude is at least $50 million annually, money which will no longer be circulating in the local economy as some of the city’s highest paid jobs vanish.

Tito Martins, chief executive officer of Vale Canada and executive director of base metals for the international parent company, said two key issues underpin the operating changes. “Mineral reserves in Thompson have not been sufficient to operate the smelter and refinery at full capacity for some time. To account for this shortfall, Vale has been importing as much as 45 per cent of the nickel processed in Thompson from sources outside Manitoba. This external feed is no longer available after 2013.

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Vale: Chomiak says province will ‘bend over backwards’ [Vale Job Cutbacks in Thompson, Manitoba]

This article was originally published in the Thompson Citizen which was established in June 1960. The Citizen 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.

January 26, 2011 -by Ryan Flanagan
editor@thompsoncitizen.net

Provincial Innovation, Energy and Mines Minister Dave Chomiak was in Thompson last week, where he updated the Thompson Chamber of Commerce on efforts to reverse Vale’s decision to close its smelter and refinery in Thompson by the end of 2015.

“We will not consider the closing of the refinery and the smelter as an only solution,” he told the crowd of approximately 75 community leaders, businesspeople, and politicians. “We will not accept that. We’ll only consider options if Thompson and Manitoba, and the people that work here, have a value-added option.”

“Before the end of the month, we’re going to be providing options,” said Chomiak. “We want Vale to look at those options seriously. We think that their decision – even though they say that they canvassed a number of options – was made by only one party, in a complex business and social development that requires the input of many people, not the least of which are the people of Manitoba who own the mineral rights.”

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American filmmaker Michael Moore’s website: ‘Your search did not match any documents’ [Vale Job Cutbacks in Thompson, Manitoba]

This article was originally published in the Thompson Citizen which was established in June 1960. The Citizen 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.

February 4, 2011 – by John Barker
editor@thompsoncitizen.net

Video or blog entries related to Vale, Thompson and USW

It’s all the buzz. Churchill riding NDP MP Niki Ashton said Feb. 1 that “award-winning documentarian Michael Moore agreed to a request” by her to “help share her message about the devastating decision by Vale to close the Vale smelter and refinery in Thompson.”

Said Ashton: “Moore’s team expressed great interest in Vale’s decision and the devastating impact it would have on Ashton’s home community of Thompson. Moore’s team plans to post Ashton’s YouTube video on his website as well as post a series of blog entries by Ashton and the people who are losing their jobs … Moore and his team pointed to the parallels between the Thompson story and the story of Flint, Michigan as told in Moore’s film Roger and Me.”

Ashton went on to say Tuesday, “The story of Thompson parallels what the people of Flint, Michigan faced. Our community is the latest victim. Our goal was to get our message spread globally. We are fighting back. We are happy to have Michael Moore help us get our message to the world.”

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NEWS RELEASE: [Manitoba MP] Ashton gets a hand from Michael Moore for Thompson [Job Cutbacks]

Niki Ashton, is the New Democratic Member of Parliament for the electoral district of Churchill in Manitoba, Canada. She was first elected in the 2008 federal election. A resident of Thompson, Manitoba, she is the daughter of Manitoba provincial NDP cabinet minister Steve Ashton. (Wiki)

Renowned filmmaker to spread the community’s message

Tue 1 Feb 2011

OTTAWA–Award-winning documentarian Michael Moore agreed to a request by New Democrat MP Niki Ashton (Churchill) to help share her message about the devastating decision by Vale to close the Vale smelter and refinery in Thompson, MB.

Moore’s team expressed great interest in Vale’s decision and the devastating impact it would have on Ashton’s home community of Thompson. Moore’s team plans to post Ashton’s YouTube video on his website as well as post a series of blog entries by Ashton and the people who are losing their jobs.

“Our message is that this is about our jobs and our community,” said Ashton. “It is time our government stopped supporting profitable corporations like Vale, and started standing up for us.”

Vale, A Brazilian company, bought out Inco in a foreign takeover that was approved by Canada’s federal government in 2007. In the fall of 2010 Vale also received a $1Billion loan from Canada’s federal government. Despite promises to increase employment, Vale announced the closure of the smelter and refinery, eliminating all the value added mining jobs in Thompson by 2015.

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NEWS RELEASE (United Steelworkers): Voisey’s Bay Workers Ratify Five-Year Agreement

31 January 2011-Goose Bay, NL: Unionized workers at the Voisey’s Bay nickel mine in Labrador have ratified a five-year collective agreement, ending a bitter, 18-month strike against Brazilian mining giant Vale.

Members of United Steelworkers Local 9508 voted 88% in favour of a tentative deal reached by their negotiating team and Vale representatives. Vote results were released today, following balloting in a number of communities over the last several days.

“Our members are returning to work with their heads held high,” said Steelworkers staff representative Boyd Bussey. “They stood up for their families and their communities and fought for what they believed in.”

“This labour dispute was unnecessarily provoked and prolonged by a giant multinational corporation,” said Wayne Fraser, Steelworkers District Director for Atlantic Canada and Ontario.

“Our members deserve to be proud for standing up to this foreign corporation and for finally achieving a fair deal,” Fraser said.

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