The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper. mwhitehouse@thesudburystar.com
One of Sudbury’s oldest, most storied and most prolific mines is about to be reborn. Victoria Mine near Worthington is likely the largest new mineral deposit found in Sudbury in a generation and will be hard to beat, say Quadra FNX officials.
Appearing before city council Wednesday, Pat Lewis, Quadra’s manager of business relations, said the $750-million, seven-year new mine development represents a significant expansion of Su dbury’s mining infrastructure.
Though Quadra is Sudbury’s third largest miner, it is increasingly becoming a major international player, Lewis said.
In addition to the three projects it already has in Sudbury -Levack Morrison, McCreedy West and Podolsky, all leased from Vale — Quadra is developing the $2.5-billion Sierra Gorda project in Chile.
Construction of Victoria Mine is expected to get underway in early 2012 and be completed by 2017. The mine will employ more than 200 full-time people throughout its 15-to 20-year lifespan.
Quadra FNX employs about 500 people in Sudbury already, with an annual payroll of $43 million. The company purchased about $120 million in goods and services in Sudbury in 2010, mostly in supplies and contractors.
For now, the company is busy with the engineering process, working through the environmental permitting process and meeting with area residents and other stakeholders, Lewis said.
One of the biggest concerns so far has been roads in the area, he said. In particular, Regional Road 4, which also serves Vale’s Totten Mine, is in dire need of upgrading, council heard.
Greg Clausen, the city’s general manager of infrastructure, said the city, Quadra and Vale are negotiating a groundbreaking cost-sharing reconstruction deal for the road.
For the rest of this article, please go to the Sudbury Star website: http://www.thesudburystar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3340338