Dismantling of Sudbury's Superstack could start this summer, says Vale

Jonathan Migneault · CBC News

· Posted: May 16, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 12 minutes ago

If each goes to plan, mining elephantine Vale volition commencement dismantling the iconic Superstack successful the bluish Ontario metropolis of Sudbury this summer.

Built successful 1972, the 381-metre chimney located astatine the Copper Cliff smelter is the tallest successful the Western Hemisphere.

The Superstack was built to dispersed sulphur dioxide emissions, diluting them implicit a wide geographic area. 

But successful 2018, aft years successful delays complying with caller authorities biology regulations, Vale completed its $1-billion Clean Atmospheric Emissions Reduction (AER) task which reduced those emissions by 85 per cent. The institution built 2 smaller stacks to regenerate Superstack, which was nary longer needed.

The Superstack has been inactive since 2020, and Vale has been moving connected plans to safely dismantle the operation since then.

"In bid to destruct the hazard of deterioration oregon thing else, we request to instrumentality it down," said Paul Guenette, the task pb for Vale's Superstack dismantling.

Because the Superstack sits atop a moving processing facility, and adjacent homes successful Sudbury's Copper Cliff neighbourhood, Guenette said an implosion was retired of the question.

The institution looked astatine a batch of antithetic ideas to instrumentality down the monolithic factual structure.

"I had my ain wherever we benignant of dug a spread underneath to marque it sink," Guenette said.

They landed connected a program to dismantle it from the apical down.

Crews person finished gathering 2 elevators connected the extracurricular of the stack to assistance radical and instrumentality up and down.

"We'll beryllium mounting up a level astatine the precise top, which is what they're doing contiguous for the adjacent mates of weeks," Guenette said.

"After that, astir apt aboriginal connected this summer, we're going to spot this proprietary portion of instrumentality that's going to beryllium hoisted up from the inside. It's going to beryllium connected the factual astatine the precise top, and it's gonna fundamentally chopped pieces of the factual and marque it autumn connected the inside."

Guenette said the enactment volition beryllium done without interrupting enactment astatine the smelter below. 

As the instrumentality dismantles 1 level of the Superstack, crews volition little it until it yet reaches the bottom, which could instrumentality 5 years. 

He said the instrumentality volition beryllium operated remotely, though six workers volition beryllium astatine the apical to cleanable up and marque definite each debris falls wrong the Superstack, wherever there's nary hazard of harm.

While immoderate radical see the Superstack to beryllium an eyesore, it's besides a recognizable portion of Sudbury's skyline. 

Guenette said helium has mixed feelings astir dismantling the landmark. 

"It volition beryllium sad," helium said.  "However, I recognize wherefore we're doing it and it's really for the payment of everybody."