'Class' held for LU students at Vale Inco picket line

Laurentian University students and faculty gathered at the Clarabelle Mill picket line Dec. 11 to support striking members of Steelworkers Local 6500. Photo by Lee-Ann Fielding.

Dec 14, 2009- 11:36 AM

By: Sudbury Northern Life Staff

Students and faculty from Laurentian University showed solidarity for striking Vale Inco workers at the Clarabelle Mill picket line Dec. 11.

A “class” was held to discuss the causes of the strike.

“Sudbury has always been a mining town with strong union traditions,” said Steelworkers Local 6500 president John Fera, who represents the more than 3,000 strikers.

“We welcome all those who want to understand why we are in this fight and how the entire community has a stake in the outcome.”

The session was sponsored by the Laurentian University Faculty Association (LUFA) and Laurentian Canadian Federation of Students (CFS).

LUFA donated $4,000 to help families affected by the strike at the event.

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35 Comments

with held 1/11/2010 3:16:48 AM - Report Abuse

"Students and faculty from Laurentian University showed solidarity" umm were these just family members it seems odd that students would give a rats ask for a strike. If it's greedy LU staff married to 6500 you would think it wouldn't be wise not to bite hands that feed you or the ones that feed a lot more.
noofie 12/20/2009 2:40:17 PM - Report Abuse

Jeez......with all these students and university teachers looking to help the USW, someone shoulda asked if they could help with the vote counting.

Seems to be takin a lot longer than the last provincial election in NL including the Labrador part.

Wonder whats happenin here bys?
D. Laframboise 12/19/2009 6:05:31 PM - Report Abuse

Right of centre the point you are missing is nickel, copper, and pgms are all found in sulphide ore deposits. Nickel laterites only conatin nickel making them less valuable. Do you think the nickel, copper, and pgms are all seperate in the mines in sudbury and you can pick and choose how much you want to mine of each metal? The nickel, copper, and pgms are all mixed to toegether in a sulphide ore deposit. You have to mill and refine them to seperate them. You obviously don't know what you are talking about.
rightofcentre 12/18/2009 9:49:06 AM - Report Abuse

No DL I know what your point is. It comes down to a simple economic analysis and your take on the analysis is skewed to support your own agenda.

Thats why people like you don't run businesses and people like Stevey Balls and Corky McFly do. PGMs will never support a mining industry in sudbury on their own, only if the nickel can be mined profitably with the PGMs and Cu will it be worth it.
D. Laframboise 12/17/2009 4:32:59 PM - Report Abuse

Obviously you are missing my point, or you choose to not listen. Oh well, I tried.
rightofcentre 12/17/2009 1:51:03 PM - Report Abuse

DL you confuse nickel laterites with pig iron nickel.

laterites can and will produce high grade nickel products with a process called HPAL (High pressure acid leach) followed by solvent extraction and electrowinning. Its cheaper, more energy efficient and environmentally frienlier than suplhide pyrometallurgy proceses.

INCO produces specialty nickel products aswell but i dont know much about these - some sort of alloy but the bulk of their product is refined nickel - no diffeent from what a laterite hydrometallurgical plant would produce.

Pig iron nickel is blended with iron ore to produce a ferronickel via blast furnace. This is a low garde nickel product used for stainless steel production in china.

You can keep on living in a bubble and convincing yourself I'm wrong if you like... the future is not sudbury i'm afraid.
D. Laframboise 12/17/2009 12:47:36 PM - Report Abuse

Yes mining dirt with shovels on surface is cheaper than drilling blasting, mucking, hoisting ore, but the dirt (laterite deposit)that they are mining isn't worth very much in comparison to the rich sulphide ore bodies that are being mined in sudbury. The value of the metals in a sulphide ore deposit mitigate the extra expense of mining below the surface of the earth. When are you going to realize this. The mines in sudbury aren't just nickel mines.
D. Laframboise 12/17/2009 12:40:07 PM - Report Abuse

Nickel laterite deposits produce low grade nickel. Sulphide ore bodies produce, nickel, copper, and pgms. The only thing that is holding back the laterite deposits is the fact that there is still plenty of rich sulphide ore bodies to be mined. Not to mention there is absolutely zero need for low grade nickel production in the world right now. Jeez, I thought I was making some progress with you. Why would a company waste their time mining low grade nickel laterite deposits when there absolutely no need for it on the market? Why is vale trying to start vale inco with replacement workers right now if the operation is going to lose money? Vale Inco isn't just a nickel mine. When are you going to realize that?
rightofcentre 12/17/2009 11:45:20 AM - Report Abuse

DL - You clearly don't get it. Keep trying to convince yourself that the inevitable isn't going to happen.

Do you seriously not understand that "mining" dirt with shovels on surface is cheaper than drilling, blasting, mucking and hoisting ore upto 7000ft below surface? Not to mention constarsts in labour costs.

The only thing holdering laterites back is the unproven processing technology. Within 5 years it will be viable with Gorro, Koniambo and other plowing ahead. The writing is on the wall. Mining will still exist in sudbury but not as we know it. there certainly won't be any powerful unions left in this town in 10 years.
D. Laframboise 12/17/2009 10:41:12 AM - Report Abuse

So you are finally starting to get it! Sulphide ore bodies are more profitable then laterite ore deposits because the they contain "bonus metals" as you say. As the sulphide ore bodies are depleted they will start mining the less profitable laterite deposits. The last I heard inco in sudbury had 50 years of proven ore and 50 years of probable. So it looks like mining won't be coming to an end anytime soon around sudbury. I'm glad you are starting to understand the wealth that lays beneath sudbury.
rightofcentre 12/17/2009 8:37:45 AM - Report Abuse

There are PGMs all the way from here to Kenora DL but very few PGM operations. They occure in low concentrations - less than 5 g/t and the recoveries are lower 60-70%. They're not economic on their own and as drifter says are by products or "bonus metals"

Mario - I ahppen to know a bit about the mining industry and drifter has shown himself over and over again to know what he's talking about. I don't know the guy but I would trust what he says over the majority of the brainwashed emotionally charged stealworkers anyday. When you can't see the world passed your own pay cheque and bank balance then you shouldn't comment on world affairs.
drifter 12/15/2009 5:52:46 PM - Report Abuse

Hey Paisan
You flatter me.
drifter 12/15/2009 5:51:30 PM - Report Abuse

You just hang onto that dream D. Laframboise.
It's tragic that you depend on Vale Inco for a living and know so little about the nickel market.

What they're mining now is high PGMs and mostly they're doing it to, as Steve B said, provide meaningful work for non Local 6500 workers but secretly......its to piss you guys off.

PGMs are worthwhile here at most locations as by products of the nickel mining. North Mine has a zone that is the exception.

Platinum's about $400/oz right now.....if the auto industry...the major user...doesn't pick up, the price will drop again.

Don't count on PGMs chum. There are PGM mines all over the world including Canada
D. Laframboise 12/15/2009 5:34:38 PM - Report Abuse

So drifter and right of centre where are you getting this privaleged information from? There was a drill program going on but I didn't know Vale Inco announced any of the results. So now you guys are big experts based on what? Who are you two arm chair mining experts anyways? Laterites don't contain any pgms. Trying to compare laterites to sulphide ore deposits is like comparing apples to oranges. Once all of the more profitable sulphide ore deposits are depleted they will move on to less profitable laterite deposits. Why won't vale sell off vale inco if it is so unsustainable? Why is Roger Agnelli willing to hire replacemnt workers at $5000/wk if the ore in the ground here isn't worth mining right now? The company is trying to break the union in order to funnel more money back to the greedy, rich foreign bankers that own vale. If vale wants the union to take concessions they are going to have to prove to the union that the company is unsustainable. "Take my word" isn't going to cut it.
Mario_3 12/15/2009 4:39:00 PM - Report Abuse

Hey.'right of center',the other day,you said i was 'brainwashed' by the union.Are you sure YOU are not 'brainwashed'........by your barstool buddy at Eddie's?
rightofcentre 12/15/2009 2:46:09 PM - Report Abuse

D. The Raspberry - I'm afraid Drifter is right. Sudbury may have plenty of reserves for at least 50 years production but things will start winding down here as soon as the laterites pick up. Its not going to happen over night but it's coming - as soon as lateriites are proven viable then the writing will be on the wall for xstrata nickel and vale inco, at least in canada anyway.

The "technology" drifter refers to has nothing to do with shovels and mining (try to thnk outside the sudbury miner box). Its in the hydrometallurgical processes that were developed in Missisaugua for VB and Gorro.

Within 20 yers there'll be no INCO in sudbury - just a few non unionized contract miners feeding small mills that can only afford to produce when the nickel price is above $10/lb. By which time, most of us that can get out and transfer our skills to laterites or other metals will ahve done so. The USW will still be standing around scratching their heads at this point blaming Vale, Xstrata, the conservative governemnt, rick bartolucci, the community and barry manilow...
drifter 12/15/2009 1:42:51 PM - Report Abuse

D. Laframboise
One other thing, the Sudbury meteorite was not the largest meteorite to strike earth by a long shot.

Ask someone to tell you about the Gulf of Mexico meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs.
drifter 12/15/2009 1:36:26 PM - Report Abuse

D. Laframboise
I'm gonna have to charge you for this info soon. Our union frowns on giving info away.

The laterites are sitting on surface. Scrape away the trees and grass and start mining.

You have to understand that Vale doesn't care what they mine or what they do to make money. Their only goal is to make money. My guess is they'll keep Coleman 153 and Garson ramp going for the pgms and possibly go back into North Mine.

You can be sure the planners are doing a lot of "what if" planning right now.
There's still uranium bearing rock underground at Elliot Lake but if you can't mine it at a profit, its not ore. That's where Vale Inco is right now.
Regarding your meteorite theory as a unique source of the metals here, there was no meteorite that hit Norilsk in Russia and that orebody is as rich as and many times larger than Sudbury.
Where do you get your info? or do you just kinda wing it?
D. Laframboise 12/15/2009 12:17:01 PM - Report Abuse

Drifter do the laterites produce pgms too? Do you know what pgms are? Do you know the value of pgms? Has the price of pgms declined throughout the recession? I didn't think so. You have no clue when it comes to the value of sudbury operations. Did you know that sudbury is the site of the largest meteor strike in the world? Did you know that the meteor strike is the only reason why the concentrations of nickel, copper and pgms are found here. Laterite mines can produce low grade nickel at a fairly low cost, almost on par with the cost that vale inco can produce. Most laterite deposits have proven that they are not economical to mine and refine anyways due to the fact that such a large portion of ground has to dug up to get to them. Have you ever heard of dillution? If all of cuba sits on a laterite deposit do you think they are going to dig up and destroy the whole island to mine the deposit that lays underneath? I don't think so.
drifter 12/15/2009 12:07:17 PM - Report Abuse

D. Laframboise
I just did a quick check.........
Proven nickel reserves in Goro are 55 million tonnes with a large asseet base ( More reserves)
In Brazil, the reserves are 295 million tonnes with a life of 40 years. This ore will use the Inco HPAL system which Vale got when they bought Inco.

Don't believe what the boys from Pittsburgh are telling you without checking D. Laframboise. They have an agenda.
drifter 12/15/2009 11:40:09 AM - Report Abuse

Raspberry
The life of the laterite mines is almost unlimited. For instance, the entire island of Cuba is laterite nickel. The entire Ankar Wat temple complex is built from laterite....its all over the place.
Goro reserves on N C are unmeasureable. Brazil is just starting to be explored with Vale and Xstrata both having mines there.
Mining of this type of ore is simply a matter of digging it up with a hydraulic shovel or in the case of Goro ripping it with bulldozers.

The Inco technology that Vale bought was the pressure leaching process which Inco holds several very significant patents on.

Copper mining is moving to Peru and Chile where huge open pits are in operation.

The product of most laterite mines is a ferro-nickel "pellet" that can be fed directly into a furnace with additional iron feed producing stainless steel or sent to a refinery for electro winning to produce 99.9% ni. The Chinese "pig nickel" process is a new development for production of about 90% of SS requirements from ferro-nickel feed.

Think about it.......laterites are typically 2.5% nickel. They're sitting on surface and a guy making $4.00/hr digs and loads it into a truck using a hydraulic shovel. Compare this to the cost of mining Vale Inco Sudbury from 5000+ feet down.

It's not a slam dunk anymore DL.
D. Laframboise 12/15/2009 10:53:15 AM - Report Abuse

Drifter you are so out of touch with everything in the world, I wonder what planet you live on? The laterite mines have 15 year life expectancy and will produce low grade nickel. Sudbury operations produce nickel, copper, gold, silver, platinum, palladium, and other pgms. The proven ore bodies in sudbury are far more profitable then the laterites. The mining practicies and technology used at inco is not applicable to open pit mines. The laterites and all of vales iron ore mine are open pit. Therefore the mining practices and technology vale inco uses is useless for the rest of Vale unless they start mining below surface. Where do you hear all your rumours drifter? Whoever you are talking doesn't know what they are talking about.
second_account 12/14/2009 8:37:58 PM - Report Abuse

beefy, bartollucci doesn't give two chits about the strike, or the guys standing on the line, seeing as he's on his way out. He got his DB pension through all his hard work.
Kidding aside, when can anybody honestly say that he ever came through for Sudbury? 4 lanes down to Parry Sound. Yay, book a band for that one. We haven't heard a single peep outta him during a turning point in our city's future & history. By the way, Sudbury is located in his riding. Ya think he could have piped up and at least pleaded for both sides to talk? Anyone can do that and still remain neutral.
He had the nerve to chastise Gelinas for actually trying something, anything, to get these people back to work saying she missed some votes. It would interesting to see how many votes he's missed over the years and what his excuses were.
Like i said, he's a lame duck, just like his corrupt party, so his opinion is worth about as much as a Brazilian real is at the gas station.
drifter 12/14/2009 8:05:51 PM - Report Abuse

second_account
What Vale wanted was the inco technology and laterite mines.

There's nothing here in Sudbury that Vale or the world needs these days.

The Boys from Pittsburgh's decision to strike Sudbury probably resulted in a big bonus for Steve Ball and Cory McPhee and a party on the beach for the Rio officel
beefy 12/14/2009 7:53:32 PM - Report Abuse

So right, second account, vale is just being greedy in all of this. And I've yet to see how they are a benefit to Canada or to Sudbury. It was bad news when they came to town. It's also rather disappointing to see all of the mean-spirited people on here. As a community we should be behind the strikers, and negative comments aren't going to get this strike resolved.
The politicians should be backing the strikers too, but only the NDP are there for them. Where's Bartolucci? Oh, it's not in his job description. Well, I for one won't forget Rick.
second_account 12/14/2009 6:57:58 PM - Report Abuse

Some of you posters make me sick. Did it ever cross anyone's mind that maybe, just maybe the guys on strike might actually be the good guys in all of this? Did it ever occur to some people that perhaps VALE & Xstrata bought the companies with bigger plans in mind, which do not benefit Canadians? Like it or not, the mining sector is still the largest employer in town.
Put your hatred for unions away for a minute and think of the consequences should these conglomerates get what they really want out of this town. What else does of value does Sudbury really have to offer?
QCguy_1 12/14/2009 5:15:10 PM - Report Abuse

They might as well experienc what they'll be doing in the future if they are part of the USW
boyjoe 12/14/2009 5:11:51 PM - Report Abuse

Thanks LU
TITO_1 12/14/2009 4:09:56 PM - Report Abuse

Thank you for your support L.U
Next time we will have turtle soup for you, It tastes like s@#t but it's better than the vale kool-aid,,,lol
Lloyd 12/14/2009 3:50:19 PM - Report Abuse

I would have done the same, just to get out of a mind-numbingly boring sociology or economics lecture.
2010 12/14/2009 2:25:27 PM - Report Abuse

A pro Vale blogger from SS once said that the engineers that Inco have are not good quality is that true? Is that the engineers you are talking about jonny?
11black 12/14/2009 1:58:02 PM - Report Abuse

this was actually an inspirational meeting. the message to the students was "this is where laziness will get you, stay in school and learn from all the mistakes history shows us!"
rightofcentre 12/14/2009 1:43:28 PM - Report Abuse

probably a bunch of hippie socialist idealist types... You know the ones that preach about social justice, big bad corporations and the environment before jumping into the new car that mummy and daddy bought them and going off to the mall...
jonny_boy 12/14/2009 1:29:24 PM - Report Abuse

believe me harry, the ones coming out of LU that matter (ie the ones that would actually have a shot at landing a job at inco...geologists and engineers) aren't union supporters and i would bet none were present.
Harry 12/14/2009 12:59:43 PM - Report Abuse

I always thought university students were smarter than this. Guess I was wrong. LU has just lost all my support. I cannot believe that the LU board of directors sanctioned this.