Thompson

Overview

Vale's Manitoba Operations, located in Thompson, Manitoba, are comprised of two underground operations -- Thompson Mine and the Birchtree Mine, as well as the Thompson Open Pit.

Vale's Manitoba Operations were the world's first fully integrated nickel mining and processing complex and has produced four billion pounds of nickel in its 50 years of operation. 

The orebody that now marks the site of the town of Thompson was discovered in early February 1956. Thompson underground mining operations started in 1961.

Vale is transitioning their Thompson operations to a mining and milling business, and phasing out smelting and refining by 2015. This enables the company to better align processing capacity with mineral reserves while meeting their environmental commitments.

Location

Manitoba is a Canadian Prairie province. Thompson, with a population of some 15,000, has grown to become Manitoba's third largest city. Although its beginnings were the result of an agreement in 1956 between what was then the International Nickel Company of Canada and the Province of Manitoba, it has developed into a major northern transportation hub. A major highway system, rail line, seaplane base and airport all provide goods and services to northern remote communities. In fact, the Thompson airport is the second busiest in Manitoba. Its most prominent local industry is the mining, milling, smelting and refining of nickel.

Thompson is marked by a subarctic climate, with long, bitterly cold winters, and short but warm summers.

Geology & Mineralization

The Thompson Nickel Belt consists of Archean gneisses of the Superior craton and rift-related Paleoproterozoic cover sequences that were tectonically reworked during the Trans-Hudson Orogen.

In the Thompson Nickel Belt (TNB),  the cover rocks (Ospwagan Group) comprise quartzite to pelite, carbonate and ferruginous to silicic chemical deposits overlain by mafic volcanic rocks and intruded by   ultramafic sills that host world-class nickel deposits. These rocks extend over 400 km along strike but are complexly deformed and highly metamorphosed. Moreover, they are poorly exposed in the north   and covered by Paleozoic carbonates in the south.

The Thompson ore body is within the Thompson Nickel Belt and is hosted in two main types of mineral deposits: metasedimentary hosted and ultramafic associated. The Thompson ore body was discovered in 1956 and the T-1 Shaft was developed in 1957, with production starting in 1959. The mine has operated continuously since 1959 and to date, Thompson Mine  has excavated more than 80 million tons of ore for a total of 4.3 billion pounds of nickel.

Mining & Operation

Vale mines in Thompson, Manitoba, are underground and open pit operations with nickel sulfide ore bodies.

The T-1 Shaft was deepened to its present depth of 4,423 feet in 1967 and hoists all Thompson Mine ore and waste. The mine first utilized labour-intensive cut-and-fill mining methods and in the mid-1980s, converted to vertical block mining. Presently, T-1 Mine production is from five complexes that use vertical block mining in primary areas and several remnant recovery mining methods. T-1 Mine manpower averages 247 people, covering a 24/7 schedule.

In 2011, the mining operations produced 1.18 Mt ore at 1.76% nickel.

The ore bodies also contain co-deposits of copper and cobalt. Vale has integrated mining, milling, smelting and refining operations to process ore into finished nickel at Thompson. Vale also smelt and refine an intermediate product, nickel concentrate, from Vale Voisey Bay operations.

Low-cost energy is available from purchased hydroelectric power at Thompson operations. .

Mineral reserves in Thompson are not sufficient to operate the smelter and refinery at full capacity and do not support the investment of the significant capital that would be required under new pending federal sulfur dioxide emission standards that are expected to come into effect in 2015.

As a result of that Vale is transitioning its Thompson operations to a mining and milling business, and phasing out smelting and refining by 2015.

Processing

 Vale has integrated mining, milling, smelting and refining operations to process ore into finished nickel at Thompson. The company also smelts and refine an intermediate product, nickel concentrate, from the company's Voisey’s Bay operations. Low-cost energy is available from purchased hydroelectric power at their Thompson operations.

Vale is transitioning their Thompson operations to a mining and milling business, and phasing out smelting and refining by 2015. This enables the company to better align processing capacity with mineral reserves while meeting their environmental commitments.

In 2011, Vale started a modernization program at their nickel refinery and at their tailings disposal facility.

In 2011, the plant produced 25,000 t nickel.

Environment & Community

In September 2011, Vale entered into a three year collective agreement with the union representing the employees in our Thompson Manitoba Operations.

Vale is committed to being a good neighbour to the citizens and City of Thompson. It contributes financially and in-kind to organizations such as WinterFest, Nickel Days, and a variety of sporting, artistic and non-profit organizations that meet the needs of local residents. It also sponsors major initiatives such as the Safe Workers of Tomorrow program in Manitoba and events such as the Manitoba Indigenous Summer Games. It also makes major financial contributions to much needed facilities such as the Personal Care Home, Recreational Complex, Mammography Unit and others.

Vale's Manitoba Operation owns and operates the city's water treatment plant. The plant has a 4.5 million gallon per day capacity. As part of the 1956 agreement, it supplies potable water not only to its own plant for its needs, but also to the City of Thompson free of charge.