Vale Base Metals has celebrated the signing of an agreement to begin the Stobie Open Pit Mining Project, located in the city of Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. The agreement will see the mining services company Thiess, work closely with the United Steelworkers (L6500 and L2020), as well as local Indigenous businesses, Z’gamok Construction LP (ZCLP) and Aki-eh Dibinwewziwin Limited Partnership (ADLP) to extract critical minerals including copper and nickel from the property.

“This is a first-of-its-kind contract for Vale,” said Gord Gilpin, Director of Ontario Operations for Vale Base Metals. “It delivers on our company’s strategy to increase production from near-surface deposits and does so with the direct participation and collaboration of two very important groups – First Nation peoples and the United Steelworkers.”

Thiess Executive Chair and CEO Michael Wright said: “We’re excited by this opportunity to bring our global technical expertise and engineering capability to a major Canadian mining operation for Vale.”

“Vale identified an opportunity to ensure meaningful Indigenous involvement on this project, while respecting their obligations to their USW workforce and managing the earth’s resources in a sustainable way – we’re proud to work with a client who shares our commitment to sustainable mining practices, and working with others to move forward successfully, together.”

Thiess Group Executive Americas Darrell White added: “We look forward to continuing to partner with Vale, our Canadian First Nation partners, United Steelworkers L6500 and L2020, and the local community in Sudbury while continuing to contribute to Canada’s nickel and copper industry to provide metals that are vital to North America’s transition to clean energy. We greatly appreciate the trust and collaboration shown by the Canadian First Nation partners.”

By working with ADLP and ZCLP, Thiess is collaborating with three Canadian First Nations – Atikameksheng Anishnawbek and Wahnapitae First Nation under Aki-eh Dibinwewziwin Limited Partnership (ADLP) and Sagamok Anishnawbek, to present a full mining services proposal to Vale with meaningful First Nation participation.

The Gimaas of the three First Nations – Craig Nootchtai, Larry Roque, and Angus Toulouse – jointly stated: “This project represents a great opportunity for our communities to meaningfully participate and work as true partners in generating the wealth that is extracted from our lands. We look forward to working with Vale, Thiess, and the USW Local 6500 to generate value and jobs for our communities and the Greater Sudbury community.”

USW Local 6500 President Nick Larochelle said: “USW Local 6500 has been representing Production and Maintenance workers for over 62 years in the Sudbury basin and is happy to be a part of this new partnership to bring Stobie Pit into production. We look forward to working with Thiess, Vale, Z’gamok, and ADLP to bring this important project to life here in Sudbury. This will benefit all parties and help the community continue to thrive for many more years to come.”

USW Local 2020 Unit President Sherri Hawkes said: “I’m excited to see new ventures being started at our properties in Sudbury. Working with Vale and external partners will be new and different although we are happy that we were all able to align and find a path where we are able to move forward together.”

The statement said that the Stobie Open Pit Mining Project “will be delivered in a high-trust, collaborative model between all partners listed above, to ensure the project provides multi-generational, and both social and economic benefits for the local communities.”