BHP warns Australian mining not ready for low-cost competitors
The boom in demand from China’s industrialization is now “past the period of aggressive growth,” BHP’s Australia President said.
Vale Canada has announced that it has started demolishing headframes and other buildings at its Stobie mine in Sudbury. The mine was placed on care and maintenance in 2017, after 100 years of operations.
The work is expected to take place between mid-October and mid-December. All three headframes at Stobie are to be taken down. Two of the shafts will be dismantled top-down – this started earlier this week. The third shaft will be blasted down in November. Additional buildings at the site, such as the crusher plant, mill and hoist building have already been removed.
“The ageing headframes are being demolished to reduce maintenance costs and pave the way for potential new development currently being studied at the Stobie mine site,” Patrick Boitumelo, the head of mining and milling for Vale’s North Atlantic operations, said in a release. “After operating for more than 100 years in the Sudbury Basin, Stobie mine has a certain nostalgia to it. It has a rich history of contributing to our business and our community.”
Vale’s Sudbury operations have been in production for over a century and include five mines, a mill, smelter and a refinery. These produce nickel, copper, cobalt, platinum group metals, gold and silver. Last year, Vale’s Ontario operations generated 50,800 tonnes of nickel.
(This article first appeared in the Canadian Mining Journal)
