TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Xstrata Nickel has reached a tentative agreement with representatives of workers at its Sudbury, Ontario, operations, after the previous three-year contract expired at midnight on Sunday.

Both the company and the union confirmed the agreement on Monday morning, after talks that extended through the night.

The Canadian Auto Workers union's bargaining team has agreed to recommend the agreement to its members, and ratification meetings will be held early this week.

The Mine Mill Local 598/Canadian Auto Workers represents smelter, mine and mill workers at Xstrata Nickel's Sudbury operations, which the company acquired when it acquired Canada's Falconbridge, in 2006, for $18,1-billion.

“We are very pleased to have reached this tentative agreement. We believe the new offer is fair and equitable, addressing the needs of both the company and employees,” said Xstrata Nickel Sudbury vice-president Marc Boissenneault.

Xstrata Nickel’s Sudbury operations currently consist of the Nickel Rim South mine, which is ramping up production, a mill and a smelter.

After nickel prices dropped in 2008, Xstrata announced early closures of its Craig and Thayer-Lindsley underground mines, which were nearing the end of their productive lives, put its Fraser complex on care-and-maintenance and shelved its Fraser Morgan development project.

The firm also announced in February 2009 it would cut 686 permanent jobs in Sudbury.

Earlier this month, union members voted to approve a strike mandate if a new agreement was not clinched before the existing one expired, but talks continued beyond the deadline on Sunday until a tentative deal was reached.

If negotiations had failed, Xstrata's workers would have joined more than 3 000 employees of the other big miner in the Sudbury region, Vale Inco, who have been on strike since mid-July 2009.

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