Sudbury, Ont., mayor not phased over what tariffs could mean for nickel mining

Jonathan Migneault · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 21, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 infinitesimal ago

Sudbury's politician says he's not disquieted that an ongoing commercialized warfare betwixt Canada and the United States volition wounded the city's nickel exports to the south.

"I judge captious minerals, which evidently we are endowed with present successful Greater Sudbury, play a relation to possibly span that disagreement that we are presently surviving with the U.S. administration," said Sudbury Mayor Paul Lefebvre.

"For them to recognize the value that they can't root this successful the U.S."

Lefebvre noted that the U.S. lone has 1 progressive nickel mine, located successful Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and it would instrumentality years, if not a decade, for that state to unfastened much mines for the captious mineral.

The ore from that American excavation is besides processed astatine a installation owned by mining elephantine Vale, successful Sudbury.

While Sudbury's 2 nickel miners – Vale and Glencore – could beryllium shielded from tariff threats, they person been deed by debased nickel prices, which are presently hovering astir $7 US per pound.

At a speech hosted by the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce connected Wednesday, Gord Gilpin, Vale's manager of Ontario operations for basal metals, said the institution had to precocious laic disconnected immoderate workers to stay competitive, but did not accidental however many. 

"You cognize we're facing a existent request to simplify our concern and arsenic a effect of that, unluckily we've had to marque immoderate tough, pugnacious choices, but they are for the amended of the concern longer term," Gilpin told reporters aft his keynote address.

But Lefebvre said some Vale and Glencore proceed to put successful mineral exploration successful the region, with the erstwhile investing $250 cardinal implicit the adjacent 3 years to find caller deposits.

Lefebvre added that helium sees imaginable for Sudbury to physique a nickel sulfate processing plant, which is simply a cardinal constituent of electrical conveyance batteries.

Vale is gathering specified a works successful Bécancour, Que., which volition beryllium the archetypal of its benignant successful Canada.

The works volition usage nickel pellets and rounds from its refineries successful Sudbury and Long Harbour, N.L. and dissolve them successful a substance of sulfuric acid,  hydrogen peroxide and h2o to marque the nickel sulfate.

Lefebvre said he's been successful conversations with concern leaders and the chiefs of adjacent Wahnapitae First Nation and Atikameksheng Anishnawbek astir moving up with specified a installation successful Sudbury. 

"I've been advocating for this arsenic different level of keeping our ore, our nickel present for longer arsenic we tin bash the precocious processing and make the jobs that we merit here," helium said.