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Sudbury Basin

Vale to close nickel mine in Manitoba – by Staff (Sudbury Star – May 17, 2017)

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Vale has announced plans to close another nickel mine in Canada. In an email to employees, Vale Manitoba Operations announced that the Birchtree Mine will shift to “care and maintenance” and no longer produce nickel starting Oct. 1, resulting in 150 unionized employees and staff being laid off and another 50 jobs also being affected.

According to union officials, moving to ‘care and maintenance’ means the power and water at the mine will not be shut down but production will cease. “As you know, the nickel market continues to be challenging as inventories remain high and the price remains at an historic low, with little sign of significant recovery in the near term,” said Mark Scott, head of the company’s Manitoba Operations in an email to employees on Monday.

“This reality has caused us to review every aspect of our business. As a result we have made the difficult decision to suspend operations at our Birchtree Mine and place it on care and maintenance in the fourth quarter of 2017.”

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1978-79 Steelworkers strike subject of Mick Lowe’s new novel – by Heidi Ulrichsen (Sudbury Northern Life – May 3, 2017)

https://www.sudbury.com/

Local author has completed trilogy about city’s mining history

Given it’s a part of the city’s recent history, most Sudburians remember Steelworkers Local 6500’s nearly year-long 2009-2010 strike against Vale. More distant in the community’s collective memory is the arguably even more bitter labour dispute that happened a generation earlier.

Steelworkers Local 6500 went on strike against Vale’s predecessor, Inco, for 10 and a half months from Sept. 15, 1978 until June 7, 1979. The labour dispute, which involved 11,600 workers, and starved Inco of more than 22 million hours of labour, smashed records at the time for the longest strike in Canadian history.

The impact on the Sudbury community was devastating, with businesses closing, marriages breaking up and families losing their life savings. The 1978-1979 Steelworkers strike is the subject of local author Mick Lowe’s latest novel, “Wintersong.” It’s the third in the Nickel Range Trilogy fiction series, which focuses on Sudbury’s mining history.

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Laurentian’s CROSH to take health and safety research on the road – by Angela Gemmill (CBC News Sudbury – May 2, 2017)

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

Laurentian’s Centre for Research in Occupational Safety and Health to launch mobile unit June 28

Experts at the Centre for Research in Occupational Safety and Health (CROSH) in Sudbury want to hear about health and safety issues from workers in rural and remote areas of Ontario. Next month the research facility at Laurentian University will launch a mobile unit meant to travel across the province.

The large vehicle will act as a portable laboratory for any of the 40 multidisciplinary researchers at CROSH, says Director Sandra Dorman. They’ll gather information from workplaces outside of Sudbury, where most of the studies and experiments currently are conducted.

“We’ve got the home lab where we can bring ideas back and test them out, but the mobile lab allows us to get the information in the field, bring it back to the lab for testing and then go back to the field, to ensure that the new ideas actually work,” says Dorman.

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Emotional appeals on Day of Mourning – by Harold Carmichael (Sudbury Star – April 29, 2017)

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

With two local industrial deaths in recent months still fresh on the minds of many in attendance, the 2017 Greater Sudbury Day of Mourning ceremonies on Friday took on a sombre mood. Despite that dark cloud, several speakers said educating the next generation of workers is crucial to maintain all of the workplace safety gains that were won over the years.

“Occupational health and safety activists, if you go in to a workplace and clean it up, 90 per cent of the time, the next person who goes in doesn’t know you did it,” United Steelworkers International President Leo Gerard, a Greater Sudbury native, told more than 300 people gathered in Laurentian University’s Fraser auditorium. “The world would be a much different place if it wasn’t for people like Janice (Martell-project founder of the McIntyre Powder Project, who spoke earlier) and you.

The work you do saves lives. We have made the workplace better, but as France (Gelinas, Nickel Belt New Democrat MPP) says, we haven’t made them safer. We have an obligation, those of us in the workplace, to pass on our skills and education and core values for a safer workplace, to pass that on to the next generation. The best way to do that is educate them before they enter the workforce.”

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Canadore collaborates on space mining tool – by Staff (Northern Ontario Busines – April 26, 2017)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Sudbury drill firm utilizes North Bay industrial design lab

Canadore College’s innovation centre teamed up with a Sudbury space mining company and a mining supplier on a leading edge drill to be used in deep space exploration.

The staff at the North Bay college’s Innovation Centre for Advanced Manufacturing and Production (ICAMP) has been working with Deltion Innovations and Atlas Copco for nearly eight months to produce prototype tool ends for Deltion’s space mining multi-purpose tool, called PROMPT (Percussive and Rotary Multi-Purpose Tool).

Atlas and Deltion brought the PROMPT concept and tool designs to Canadore’s industrial design lab at its Commerce Court campus for manufacturing and production. According to a college news release, the centre utilized its “additive manufacturing resources,” including its 3D metal printer and computer numerical control equipment, to prototype the commissioned parts.

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Mining industry undergoing ‘remarkable transformation’ – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – April 24, 2017)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Modern Mining and Technology Week kicks off in Sudbury

At a time when the mining industry is undergoing a sea change in technology and innovation, it’s never been more important to engage youth and educate them about the available opportunities in the sector.

That was the message shared on April 21 during the annual business luncheon to kick off Modern Mining and Technology Week 2017 in Sudbury. The weeklong event features activities geared toward elementary and high school students to educate them about the mining sector and encourage them to consider pursuing careers in the industry.

Honorary chair Don Duval said the sector is in the midst of a “remarkable transformation” that is seeing the industry adopt innovation and new technology at an extraordinary rate, and he’s witnessing this change firsthand in his capacity as executive director of Sudbury’s Northern Centre for Advanced Technology (NORCAT).

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Comics hero Big Nick ‘pretty versatile’ – by Ben Leeson (Sudbury Star – April 18, 2017)

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Click here to donate to their kickstarter initiative: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/666555592/big-nick-2?ref=nav_search

Big Nick scarcely has time to celebrate keeping Sudbury and Canada safe before battling his latest subterranean scourge, the colossal Bedrock Titan, in the latest offering from Expired Comics.

Big Nick #2 follows the adventures of Sudbury’s very own superhero, a former mine rescue worker trapped in a mine shaft, only to emerge 30 years later, not a day older, but armed with mysterious powers including the ability to grow so large he can wield the iconic Big Nickel as a shield.

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Going deep in Sudbury: Onaping Depth project holds promise for Glencore – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – April 18, 2017)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

When Shayne Wisniewski envisions what the future of underground mining will look like in Sudbury, he sees depth and he sees innovation. As general manager of mining projects for Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations (Glencore), Wisniewski is responsible for evaluating the company’s Onaping Depth project, which will extend to a depth of more than 2,500 metres, considered an ultra-deep mine.

Located about a 45-minute drive from the city of Sudbury, in the vicinity of the company’s Craig and Onaping Mines, the nickel-copper-PGE deposit was first discovered in 1994, when the company was looking for the down dip extension for Onaping and Craig, Wisniewski said.

Glencore undertook a drill program in the area in 2014 and discovered a fair-size indicated and inferred resource in two zones: a contact zone and a footwall southeast zone.

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The return of Big Nick: Sudbury superhero’s second issue to launch at Graphic-Con (CBC News Sudbury – April 12, 2017)

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

Click here to donate to their kickstarter initiative: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/666555592/big-nick-2?ref=nav_search

A superhero that started out as a “thank you” to the city of Sudbury has turned into Expired Comics’ most requested character. Big Nick 2 is set to launch this June at Sudbury’s Graphic-Con, and the hero’s co-creators are surprised at how much attention he’s received.

“At this point, Big Nick has gone on to sell across Canada and the U.S,” said Kevin Montpellier, co-owner of Expire Comics. “He resonates with a lot of people. There’s a liking for the character that even we didn’t anticipate.” “It’s not huge numbers, but we never expected to see a Sudbury character in an international market,” Montpellier said.

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Role model for Sudbury workers mourned – by Jim Moodie (Sudbury Star – April 12, 2017)

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Ronnie Lepage of Wahnapitae was a veteran operator of heavy equipment and a model and guide for many young workers. So it was especially shocking to family members and colleagues when the 59-year-old was pinned under a dump truck last Thursday on Vale property in Copper Cliff, dying subsequently in hospital from his injuries.

Working around big vehicles and other equipment “is something we’ve done all our lives,” said older brother Richard, 63. “He and I, and the other brothers, we’ve all done it forever. An accident like that is almost unheard of.” Younger brother Todd, 54, said it was Ronnie’s own vehicle, which he was driving for contractor Cecchetto and Sons, that wound up on top of him.

“It was a freak accident,” he said. “Ronnie was always safe, and a mentor to other young operators. I know a few young guys he works with and they’re freaked right out over it, thinking how could it happen to somebody like him. But that’s all it takes — you could do something a thousand times and that one time it doesn’t go right.”

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Lockerby Mine conditions concerned engineer – by Harold Carmichael (Sudbury Star – April 8, 2017)

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

A Ministry of Labour mining engineer assigned to investigate the scene of a double fatal mining accident at Lockerby Mine on May 6, 2014, was troubled by what he found.  Michael Kat said the area where the accident happened was so unstable he could not get to it.

“There was no telling what was on the verge of falling,” he testified Friday on the third day of an Ontario Court of Justice trial looking into a fall of ground that killed Norm Bisaillon, 49, and Marc Methe, 34.

They were working for contractor Taurus Drilling, which had been hired by First Nickel Inc. for production mining at the mine. While 1370918 Alberta ULC (the new owner of Taurus Drilling Services) is represented by counsel at the trial, First Nickel Inc. is now bankrupt, does not have representation and will be tried in absentia.

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Vale makes final offer to office staff (update) – by Staff (Sudbury Star – March 30, 2017)

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

More than 200 office and clerical staff at Vale could hit the picket line Friday night after the company put forth its “final offer of settlement” to USW Local 2020-05 on Wednesday.

Stuart Harshaw, vice-president of Vale’s Ontario operations, informed staff in a letter that the union’s bargaining committee would present the settlement proposal at a meeting Wednesday evening and voting would take place that night and Thursday morning.

The collective agreement between Local 2020-05 and Vale is set to expire at midnight on Friday. The final offer of settlement typically means the union’s leadership is not recommending its members accept the company’s offer. That occurs only when the two sides reach a tentative agreement. In his letter to employees, Harshaw said it’s now up to members to decide.

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Optimism on minerals seen seeping down to grassroots explorers – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly – March 15, 2017)

http://www.miningweekly.com/

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Noting the optimism exhibited at the recent Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) international convention, held in Toronto, project generator Transition Metals says the fundamental shift in confidence it saw over the past year is consistent with this.

“If you look at the optimism at the conference, everyone is upbeat and excited about the months ahead. When you look at the service industry, we are just full of business right now and receiving a lot more calls right now,” Transition president and CEO Scott McLean told Mining Weekly Online in a recent interview.

“We are seeing a lot more interest in our stock and a lot more inquiries on our projects to option them. There is a fundamental difference and I feel the interest in the industry is now starting to descend down into the exploration plays as well, where we are well positioned,” he noted.

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Letter outlines reasons for Stobie’s closure – by Harold Carmichael (Sudbury Star – March 11, 2017)

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

This is a copy of the letter sent by Vale’s Stuart Harshaw to Stobie Mine employees, which The Sudbury Star has obtained, about the mine’s closure.

“Hello everyone: I am writing to inform you that after more than 120 years and more ore produced than any other mine in the history of Sudbury, operations at Stobie Mine will be suspended later this year with the mine placed on care and maintenance.

As you know, our Base Metals business has been challenged for many years now due to the prolonged downturn in metals prices and ongoing challenges in the market. This has driven us to look closely at every aspect of our business globally to try to remain cash flow positive.

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End of the line for Sudbury’s Stobie Mine – by Harold Carmichael (Sudbury Star – March 11, 2017)

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Harshaw also said Vale still believe in its Sudbury operations.”Vale is
committed to our future in Sudbury,” he said. “Over the past decade, we
have invested $4.7 billion to modernize and upgrade our operations.

Vale plans to shut down its long-running Stobie Mine by the end of the year, affecting some 230 employees. “This is a necessary decision but a sad one,” Stuart Harshaw, Vice-President of Ontario Operations, Vale Canada Limited said on Friday. “Stobie has a rich history and has been integral to our success for more than a century.

“However, after more than 100 years of operation, the mine is approaching the end of its natural life. The low grades at Stobie are no longer economical to mine in today’s challenging price environment.”

Harshaw also said Vale still believe in its Sudbury operations.

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