As part of its five-year, $10-billion spending plan for Canada, global miner Vale has announced it will be investing $3.4 billion to upgrade mining and processing facilities at its Sudbury operations.
The lion's share of this money will go towards reducing sulphur dioxide emissions by more than 80 per cent over current level, a project whose price tag sits between $1.5 billion and $2 billion. Construction will begin in 2012 and is set to wrap up by 2015, with between 800 and 2,000 workers on-site at any one time.
Sudbury's Clarabelle Mill is due to see a $200-million investment to improve recoveries by up to four per cent. This will involve the construction of a new building and the implementation of a new floatation system. Construction will begin in March 2011, with an eye for completion in 2012.
The company is also wrapping up its $360-million Totten Mine project, which is set to begin production in late 2011. Due to employ 130 people, it has an expected lifespan of 20 years.
Vale is also looking at a slate of mining studies and exploration in the Sudbury Basin, with $50 million in related investment in 2011.
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