It was a bittersweet morning for hundreds of Vale workers — past and present — who gathered for a ceremonial last skip at the 130-year-old Frood-Stobie Mine on May 30.
This mine has seen success and tragedy, hardship, innovation, and even two royal visits on its way to hauling 375 million tons of nickel ore from the depths of the earth to its surface — more than any other complex in the history of the Sudbury basin.
The stoic mine now enters a phase of “care and maintenance” but its days as the workhorse of Vale's Sudbury operations appear to be over.
This closing ceremony for Frood-Stobie was capped by the ceremonial last skip — the hauling of one final load of ore to the surface.
The gathered crowd watched on a closed-circuit feed and cheered as the doors opened and the crushed rock from deep in the ground spilled out one last time.
