Overview
- Vale Base Metals and Glencore signed an agreement to assess a brownfield copper project on adjacent Sudbury Basin properties with a plan to form an equal-partners joint venture if studies support it.
- The concept would deepen Glencore’s idle Nickel Rim South shaft and add new drifts to access nearby underground orebodies across both companies’ ground.
- Preliminary estimates outline 880,000 tonnes of copper over 21 years with capital costs of roughly US$1.6 billion to US$2.0 billion.
- Detailed engineering, permitting and community consultation are slated for 2026, with a final investment decision targeted in the first half of 2027.
- The polymetallic Sudbury geology could yield nickel, cobalt, gold and platinum-group metals, and the project remains contingent on studies, approvals and market conditions; Nickel Rim South has been in care and maintenance since July 2024.