Vale in Sudbury hosts open house to connect with the community

Vale open house focused on the future Vale Ltd. held an open house at the Big Nickel on Wednesday, focusing on youth and plans to dismantle the Superstack.

On Wednesday in Sudbury, Vale held its annual open house at the Big Nickel.

Company officials said the event is an opportunity to connect with the community. This year, there was a focus on youth, with more than 250 elementary school students attending.

The were mine rescue demonstrations, a career corner, information booths showcasing technology and bidding farewell to the Superstack.

In one demonstration, a member of the Vale mine rescue team rappelled an 85-foot rock wall in a simulated underground emergency.

Ontario Mine Rescue administers the program in the province.

“We work with all the mines across Ontario,” said Shawn Rideout, Ontario Mine Rescue Chief Officer.

“So, 32 underground operating mines and we train just over 1,000 mine rescue volunteers in both underground emergency response and surface emergency response.”

There are more than 100 certified trained members on the mine rescue team at Vale who are also employees.

“All of our employees, you know, they are very familiar with the program,” said Glen Duffy, Vale Mine Rescue lead.

“When our miners go underground, they know that there is someone there that, in the event of an emergency, they are there to come and rescue them.”

Vale’s focus this year was on connecting with young people.

“We need to have conversations now,” said Sarah Yasinchuk, Vale’s corporate affairs specialist.

“We are focusing on Grades 4 through 6 because that is where we need to plant those seeds about possible careers in our industry. We need all types of workers, all types of jobs and specialties to run a mine safely and productively.”

One booth was dedicated to saying farewell to the Superstack, which is set to be demolished over the next five years.

“We are starting to have these assets that are no longer in use,” said Darryl Cooke, Vale’s GM of surface projects.

“When we are weighing the cost of continuing to maintain these things verses needing to retire these assets, that it is just the natural progression in this environmental story as we are transforming the business.”

The Superstack was shut down in 2020. Since then, work to clear out the internals of the structure -- including a steel liner inside -- has been completed.

The next phase is dismantling the concrete structure from the top down, beginning sometime next year.