SUDBURY, Ont. - Vale Canada Ltd. says it has completed a billion-dollar project to reduce emissions at its Sudbury, Ont., smelter complex that has made the distinct 'superstack' chimney at the site obsolete.
The company, a subsidiary of Brazil-based Vale S.A., says the upgrades will reduce sulphur dioxide emissions by 85 per cent as well as reduce metal particulate emissions by 40 per cent.
The modernization, which includes several new stages of filtration, has made the existing chimney that was built to better distribute emissions no longer needed.
The chimney, which was featured on a commemorative nickel and at 367 metres is the second tallest in the world, is slated for demolition once two shorter replacement stacks are finished.
Vale says the new 137-metre stacks, expected to be completed by 2020, will need far less energy and result in a 40-per-cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from the smelter.
The emissions project was originally expected to cost $2 billion and finish in 2015 but the company decided to switch to a single furnace at the Copper Cliff smelter, pushing back the timeline and reducing costs.
The Canadian Press