Glencore is working hard to develop new deposits in Sudbury ahead of 2021, when current deposits will largely be exhausted, city councillors were told Tuesday.
That was the word from Peter Xavier, vice-president of the company's Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations, who updated the city on the state of their work in the city.
Glencore is the current owner of the mines, which date back to the late 1920s when it was owned by Falconbridge Ltd.
Their largest deposit is the Nickel Rim South Mine, a deposit discovered in 2001 and brought into production in 2010.
“It's the financial base of our operation,” Xavier said, adding they have done work in attempts to extend its life.
“Unfortunately, those efforts haven't proved to be successful.”
Fraser Mine is also producing ore, he said, but it would be a “marginal” operation without Nickel Rim and with nickel prices still low.
He said the company has spent $112 million developing technology to reduce emissions, but still face challenges lowering emissions further and still compete internationally.
Longer term, the company is working on the Craig Mine-Onaping depth project, which would take mining even deeper and would be operated as a fully electric mine. That would mean, for example, they wouldn't have to vent diesel exhaust.
“With electric, all those things are improved,” Xavier said, but things get more complicated, as well.
In the decade since Glencore took over, he said safety has improved significantly and the injury rate has dropped.
“We're proud of that,” he said, before adding there was a fatality in 2015, the first in 14 years.
“So we're are not at zero,” Xavier said, adding that “zero fatalities are a must.”
Ward 11 Coun. Lynne Reynolds wondered of there were plans to bridge the gap between Nickel Rim winding up and the startup of the lower level mines.
“Are you expecting a seamless transition?” Reynolds asked.
Xavier, who said the company currently employs 1,300 workers directly and 500 contractors, said it's something they're working on with an eye on causing “as little disruption as possible.
“We could conceivably keep some of the operations going,” he said.
“We're looking for mines to fill that gap. That's something we will have to plan for when the time comes ... But as things stand, there is a gap.”
There are challenges to working in Ontario, he said, citing more stringent emissions rules Glencore is expecting, and the rising cost of hydro. The Falconbridge smelter, for example, is electric and runs up a $50 million hydro bill every year.
All of which makes for a big year in 2017, Xavier said, as they hope to get approval for their long-term projects, as well as sign collective agreements with two unions whose contracts expire Feb. 1 and March 1 respectively.
