COPPER MINING: Vale and Xstrata join forces at Fraser mine

ONTARIO - At long last Vale and Xstrata are joining forces. Thanks to the high cost of copper, Vale has identified a particular zone it wants to recover, but the area is directly accessible only through Xstrata's Fraser mine near Sudbury. Xstrata will recall 75 laid-off miners to do the work that is to begin in July. Xstrata will also process the ore and concentrates.

The arrangement calls for Xstrata to provide excess fresh air ventilation from Fraser to Vale's Coleman mine where the 170 orebody project is set to begin production next year.

Copper mining resumed at the Fraser mine last spring. The mine life will reach into 2021.

Please see both www.Vale.com and www.Xstrata.com for more information about their operations in the Sudbury Basin.