TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Brazilian-owned Vale Inco has not changed its operating plans in Sudbury, Ontario, beyond what it has already announced, spokesperson Cory McPhee said on Tuesday.

Local media reported this week that the company, which restarted partial production in Sudbury this month using nonstriking workers, is training employees to run the Copper Cliff smelter complex.

“This is really nothing new,” McPhee said.

“We have been training employees in smelter operations since we first made the decision to resume partial production.

“In other words, the smelter training was taking place at the same time as the training was under way in the mill and the mines, months ago.”

There is no schedule at this point to restart the smelter, McPhee said.

“Knowing that it is a more complex operation, however, it made sense to begin training early in anticipation of a potential restart.”

Vale Inco closed all its operations in Sudbury at the end of May for an extended maintenance shutdown and had not reopened before more than 3 000 union members went on strike in mid-July.

The firm has since trained nonstriking employees to restart partial production, focusing on copper- and precious-metal-rich ore.

For now, Vale Inco is not operating beyond its previously disclosed plans to run the Clarabelle mill and mine the 153 orebody at Coleman mine and the Garson ramp at the Garson mine.

But “we are leaving our options open going forward,” McPhee added.

There are no talks scheduled with the striking workers, he said.

Workers are also striking at Vale Inco's Port Colborne and Voisey's Bay operations elsewhere in Canada.

Meanwhile, the United Steelworkers union has launched a global public relations campaign against the mining giant, in an attempt to draw attention to the dispute.

Most recently, the union held demonstrations last week in New York, Rio de Janeiro, London, Toronto and Sudbury.

Vale, the world's second-largest mining company, bought Canadian nickel-miner Inco in 2007.

To subscribe to Mining Weekly's print magazine email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or buy now.