Vale pushes back Clean AER completion date

Vale has pushed back the completion date for its $2-billion atmospheric emissions reduction project from the end of 2015 until the beginning of 2016.

Company spokesperson Angie Robson said in an email that Vale decided to take more time on the project, which is known as Clean AER, “both to better position ourselves for success and to address short-term cash-flow constraints in light of current market conditions.”

The end result of this approach is a change in schedule for some of the gas capture components of the project to align with the company's September 2015 planned maintenance period, Robson said.

The final tie-in work will be completed during the planned maintenance period, “so that all of the new systems will be ready for startup and commissioning once the September 2015 PMP ends,” she said. “The end result will mean the project will be completed in 2016 instead of the end of 2015.