Discussions

Bad news for the city of Thompson. This will affect the work force in the up coming years. Unless another scare tactic by the company.  
 
Manitoba  
As part of its base metals blueprint for the future, Vale is focusing its efforts in Thompson, Manitoba on  
developing new sources of ore as it transitions its operations to mining and milling with the phasing out of  
smelting and refining by 2015. This enables Vale to better align processing capacity with mineral reserves  
while meeting the company’s environmental commitments.  
Two key issues underpin the operating changes in Manitoba. 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. Also contributing to the change are  
new federal SO2 emission standards expected to come into effect in 2015. The new standards require a  
reduction in airborne emissions of approximately 88 per cent from current levels at the Thompson  
operation. Vale has concluded that it cannot practically meet this new regulatory standard in Manitoba.  
“We see a strong and long-term future for our operations in Manitoba,” said Mr. Martins. “It’s a future that  
will look different than it does today, but it is one that we believe will allow our operations to continue there  
for many, many years to come and one that will allow Thompson to remain a vibrant and important  
contributor to the northern Manitoba economy.”  
 
 
{Vale website}  
 
 
 
Edited by alans233, 2010-11-17 21:15:29