Reports say talks about Glencore, Vale merger are off

Some Sudbury workers are relieved as reports suggest that merger talks between Vale and Glencore have broken down.

While neither company will comment on the issue, there was broad discussion about the two blending their mining operations in Ontario.

Myles Sullivan, area coordinator with the United Steelworkers that represents workers at both companies, said some of their 560 members in officer and technical jobs were nervous about what the merger would mean to them.

"Some of it could come from there, some of it could come from if they decided they needed one mill instead of two, or one smelter instead of two,”

Some reports suggest that one of the reasons plans to merge were abandoned was the concern from unions. However, the unions heard no more than rumours as far as they are aware.

"From what I've been hearing locally, there have been no talks at this level,” he said. “Maybe there were talks in Brazil or Switzerland at a higher level, kicking the tires, but here there was nothing that we were aware of."

The idea of having Sudbury's mines under one corporate umbrella goes back decades, long before INCO and Falconbridge were purchased by foreign companies.