OMA NEWS RELEASE: Helping make communities better: Vale in Sudbury

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.

As the holiday season is upon us, a couple of items have come to light recently which show how Ontario Mining Association member Vale is stepping forward to help make Sudbury a little better community. The nickel producer and its employees are doing their bit for the area’s social safety net.

Vale and the United Steelworkers Union announced recently that their joint employee-company fundraising campaign is contribution $700,000 to the 2012 United Way Centraide Sudbury campaign. Vale matches the donations by employees and pensioners on a dollar-for-dollar basis for the United Way campaign.

“The United Way is a long-standing tradition at Vale,” said Kelly Strong, Vice President Canada and U.K. Operations for Vale. “The success of this campaign speaks to the incredible generosity of our employees and their commitment to making our community a better place to live.”

“For 30 years, our members continue to dig deep in their pockets to ensure the success of the United Way Centraide campaign,” said Rick Bertrand, President of the USW Local 6500. The total raised by the community for the 2012 United Way campaign in Sudbury is $1.96 million.

Also, recently, Vale donated $125,000 to Laurentian University’s Centre for Research in Occupational Safety and Health (CROSH) in Sudbury. CROSH engages in studies aimed at identifying health and safety concerns and eliminating hazards in workplaces. This donation is to help establish a permanent research chair in occupational health and safety.

“We see our ongoing relationship with Laurentian as an important strategic partnership and a true win-win-win for our company, the university and our community,” said Mr. Strong from Vale. “This donation reinforces Vale’s commitment to providing employees at Vale and beyond with safer and healthier work environments.”

“Vale has shown its deep commitment to the Sudbury community as well as its faith in Laurentian’s ability to set a standard of research excellence,” said Dominic Giroux, President of Laurentian University. “Vale’s ongoing support of CROSH, both financially and from an advisory standpoint, will ensure its success and its ability to remain uniquely responsive to the needs of industry on a local, regional and national basis.”

Mining companies are responsible, solution-providing partners in society. They do more than find, extract and process minerals essential to our modern lifestyle. They volunteer and add great value to the quality of life in their communities and beyond.