Brazilian mining company Vale SA is looking beyond its Sudbury, Ont., nickel mines as it unveils a plan to develop its domestic potash business and invest more than $10 billion over the next five years in Canada.

The company formerly known as Inco Ltd. said Wednesday it is looking at growing copper production by 100,000 tonnes and the possibility of building a new Saskatchewan potash mine for upwards of $3 billion.

"We see the future as a brighter one when you talk about fertilizer," Tito Martins, chief executive of Vale Canada, said in an interview.

The $10 billion investment will see the company expand its operations in Sudbury and on the East Coast but cut 500 jobs in Thompson, Man., as Vale phases out refining and smelting there by 2015.

On the potash front, Vale is evaluating a 2.9-million-tonne project in Saskatchewan that could create some 500 jobs once in operation. The project is currently in the pre-feasibility stage, with board approval expected in 2012.

The possibility of a new potash mine comes as demand for the key fertilizer ingredient continues to grow as farmers around the world look to increase crop yields and companies look to capitalize on that demand.

BHP Billiton had offered nearly $40 billion for Saskatchewan's PotashCorp in an attempt to buy the world's biggest potash producer in a hostile takeover before it was blocked by the federal government.

Vale has been producing potash in Brazil for about 14 years, but set its sight on becoming a major global player in the arena about three years ago.

Since then, the company has grown the business through acquisitions including the Rio Colorado project in Argentina and the Regina project in Saskatchewan from Rio Tinto for $850 million as part of a larger $1.6-billion asset purchase.

The company bought the largest fertilizer producer in Brazil earlier this year.

Although Vale's Canadian operations have been primarily involved in nickel production, ever since the Brazilian company bought Inco four years ago for $19 billion, it has a widely diversified global mining businesses.

Included in the package Wednesday was the previously announced $2.8-billion Long Harbour facility in Newfoundland and Labrador, that will process nickel extracted from the Voisey's Bay mine in northeastern Labrador, an operation that's currently on strike.

But Martins said the remainder is made up of new projects or others the company hopes to approve.

"It is important to show that Vale is committed to its Canadian operations and it is also showing that we want to preserve our assets," he said.

About one-third of the money, $3.4 billion, will be spent to upgrade mining and processing operations in Ontario -- the traditional centre of Inco's global nickel business.

Martins said the investment was made possible in part by company's new labour agreement in Sudbury signed earlier this year after an almost year-long strike.

"We kept saying during the whole labour dispute that we needed a stable environment and a clear future in terms of profitability to be able to come up with our plans," he said.

However it was not all good news for Canada as the company said it will close its nickel smelter and refinery in Thompson, Man., by 2015, a move that will see its workforce in Manitoba go from about 1,500 to roughly 1,000 people.

Martins said the company will work with the community over the next five years to minimize the economic impact as it shifts its focus in Manitoba to developing new sources of ore to be mined and milled in the province.

"The idea is let's grow in mining," Martins said in an interview. "What we want to do over the next five years is work together with our employees, with the local authorities and even the federal authorities."

"The mines there are very important for us, so we need to find out ways to keep the city alive."

To that end, Vale said it would pursue development at its Thompson 1-D and Pipe-Kipper deposits in Manitoba. The 1-D Project is in the pre-feasibility stage and could see an investment of more than $1 billion.

Vale said the move was necessary because of a shortage of ore mined locally to feed the smelter and refinery and new emission standards expected to come into force in 2015.

The new standards will require a reduction in airborne emissions of about 88 per cent from current levels, a standard the company said it cannot practically meet.