Sudbury.com received at least one message from a reader in Copper Cliff concerned about an “orange-coloured cloud” hovering over Vale’s smelter complex in the community.
Danica Pagnutti, a corporate affairs specialist with Vale’s Ontario operations, based in Sudbury, said the mining giant is finishing up planned maintenance at the smelter complex today, explaining the cloud is “off-gas” from the acid plant stack.
“(It’s) part of normal smelter ramp-up activities to prepare the furnace and roasters for operation,” she explained in an email to Sudbury.com. “The situation is normal, being monitored and does not pose a risk to the community.”
She said the off-gas will dissipate as activities ramp up and should be gone by the end of the day.
