INCO

® Printed on Recycled Paper

October1992 Ontario Division, Vol. 51, No.9

shown

whirlwind tour of someof Inco's major Sudbury

operations recentlywas designed to impress uponOntario Hydro's Environmen-tal Assessment Review Panelthe vital importance of an ad-quate and reliable hydro sup-ly to heavy industry.

"1 think we got our mes-age across," said Engineer-

ing Department assistantmanager John LeMay. "Infact, I think we got even betterresults from the tour than weexpected. By the end of theday most were impressed byour operation here and theimportance of hydro to ouroperations."

Ontario Hydro is pinningat least a portion of its futureenergy supply commitmentnot on expanding hydro gen-erating facilities but on anambitious effort to encourage,promote and facilitate energyconservation.

While Inco and otherheavy industries are solidlybehind the conservation ef-forts, some industries are con-cerned that energy suppliesmay fall short of requirementsin the future. A shortage insupply would be disastrous foroperations like Inco that relyheavily on hydro to run vitalproduction systems. Not onlywould an energy crunch bedisastrous, it would also belong term due to the enor-

le hyi supplymous lead time required be-fore new generating facilitiescan be brought on stream.

In playing host to thepanel, Inco became the onlyindustrial plant visited dur-ing the lengthy review proc-ess. Rather than hold lengthydiscussions to make industry'spoint, John figured a tour ofcompany acilities wouldspeak for itself.

The tour, conducted byCreighton maintenance su-

perintendent Ray Cousineau,included an underground visitto South Mine to see electricscooptrams, drills, crushersand other electrically-runequipment.

Clarabelle Mill, the Oxy-gen Plant, Power Systems Con-trol Room, the Smelter's newfurnace and the Copper Re-finery's electroplating processwere also featured in the all-day tour.

continued on page 2

Triangle changesreduce

our Triangle this monthjoins the drive to cut coststhroughout the Ontario

Division.Starting with the October

edition, the Triangle will go toall employees, Inco pension-ers and outside special inter-est, government and commu-nity groups in a new, moreeconomical and environmen-tally friendly format.

The move to newsprint doesnot permit sophisticated, colorreproduction but, more sig-nificantly, produces an an-nual saving of $75,000.

"With falling nickel prices,anything that any of us in theDivision can do to find sav-ings and improve productiv-

ity will help make a differencein our costs," said Jerry Rogers,manager of public affairs.

In its newsprint format,Triangle will also meet envi-ronmental concerns expressedby many employees. Whilethe old Triangle was printedon glossy stock made fromrecycled paper, the Triangleitself couldn't be recycled. Thenew version can be.

Other cost-saving meas-ures we've taken in Public Af-fairs won't be as obvious toemployees, but the savings ofapproximately $150,000 theyrepresent are our contributionto the overall unified Incoeffort.

continued on page 2

___ ___ ____ --.--

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2 MARCH 1992

Hydro use to increase despite energy conservationcontinued from page 1

"We figured the best wayto get our point across was tolet them look for themselves,to let them see what it's allabout," said John. "I thinkthere is no better place to pro-vide the big picture than atInco's Sudbury operation.Unique from many other in-dustries, we have all our op-

erations concentrated in oneplace here. "The visitorsseemed to be very impressed,particularly by the cleanlinessof our operations and the rela-tively few people around torun our operations. I thinkthey got the message that fewpeople means a high level ofautomation.. . and automa-tion means a heavy reliance

on electricity."John said the panel was

made aware that Inco has anambitious energy conserva-tion program well underwayand that major energy con-servation efforts are plannedin the future. "They were pre-sented with an outline of ournumerous energy reductionprojects that have been com-

Communications unaffected, bypublication cost reduction

continued from page 1It has been our intention

in the past not only to keepInco employees well informedon issues that affect them butto try to keep up with the aspi-rations, concerns and issuesthat our people feel stronglyabout.

In keeping with this man-date, we've attempted to cutcosts in areas where this two-way communication can con-tinue unhampered.

"In times like these, keep-ing our employees well in-formed about what's going onis more vital than ever," saidRogers.

"Just as important, em-ployees use this forum to com-municate with each other andto us. We realize that those inmanagement aren't the onlyones keeping a wary eye onthe plunging nickel price. Ouremployees, their families andpeople in the community allhave a stake in what's hap-pening here, and our publica-tions are major communica-tion vehicles."

He said that regular Trian-gle readers will have noticedthe changing attitude that hassteadily grown over the pastfew months.

"Wherever we look in our

efforts to tell the Inco story,whatever operation, office andplant we've visited in the re-cent past, there are dedicated,concerned and responsiblepeople who are rolling up theirsleeves to do innovative, im-aginative and ingeniousthings to make their jobsand workstations more pro-ductive and more costeffective.

"We hope our readers willview the changes not as a re-duction in the level of service,but an escalation in the com-mitment to fight back at thetough economic times thatthreaten all of us."

pleted, are underway now orare planned in the future."

A brief presented to thepanel states that althoughenergy use per pound of prod-uct produced has declined sub-stantially since 1981 and willcontinue to decline, Inco's elec-tricity use will increase in thefuture. Ironically, govern-ment-encourageti projects likethe $600 million Sulphur Di-oxide.

Abatement Program andmodernization and automa-tion demanded to make thecompany competitive will re-

sult in an even heavier reli-ance on hydro in the future.

Inco's energy counts forover 10 per cent of productioncosts. The total energy bill in1991 reached $92.3 million ofshich $61.5 was electric powerpurchases. That figure is ex-pected to reach $73.6 millionthis year.

Competing in a highlycompetitive marketplacewhere prices are set on worldmarkets, Inco must control itscosts in order to compete andenergy is a major factor in theequation.

Red Cross appealsfor Inco volunteers

T he Canadian Red CrossSociety's NortheasternOntario Area Office

needs volunteers, and Societyrecruiter Vikki Jowsey hopesInco people, particularly pen-sioners, will respond as theyhave before.

"Volunteers are the back-bone of the Society's bloodprogram," she said. "They givegenerously of their time andenergy to ensure that the gift

of life is always available tothose who need it."

She said some volunteersgive blood on a regular basiswhile others give their time."Presently, we need people togive their time. These indi-viduals would be telephoningpotential donors to encour-age them to keep their nextappointment.

If you are interested in vol-unteering, call 674-4003.

Should environmental projects like aerialseeding go ahead in tough economic times?

Larry Pharand, yard boss,Stobie: "We've battered our en-vironment around enough. Weshould start to bring it back towhere it used to be. It may beless important than our jobsand mining, but I don't think itshould be cut out totally. Per-haps cut back."

Don Brisebois, loco fitter,Transportation: "I feel that theenvironmental work shouldcontinue, regardless of econom-ics. Stopping would be a majormistake. Inco is committed tothe environment. On the otherhand, industry has to surviveand that comes first."

Slavko Voif, yardman,Stobie: "I would say yes, goahead with the environmentalwork. I don't think it threatensour jobs. Who knows if it willget to that point? I see environ-mental work as important ifnot more important than jobs.It should be high in priotity."

Denis Lefebvre, ventilationsupervisor, North Mine: "It's abalance between jobs and theenvironment. I hope it doesn'tcome to that. I think it's neces-sary to clean up the environ-ment for our children, but itmay have to be put on holduntil things improve."

Ray Czerkas, industrialmechanic, Clarabelle Mill: "Topick between jobs and the envi-ronment is a hard choice tomake. Both are important. It'skind of a Catch-22 situation forthe company to be in. If it meanslost jobs, environmental workcould wait for a year or two."

Bernie Beauchamp, lococar mechanic, Transportation:"We should hold the environ-mental work until we're in obetter financial position. Wecould end up with a perfect en-vironment and nobody work-ing. There would be a lot ofangry people around here."

Dave Ferguson, mainte-nance apprentice, ClarabelleMill: "It's sending out mixedsignals. Inco is saying it has to

- cut costs, yet we're spendingmoney on aerial seeding. If it'sa question of jobs versus envi-ronmental work, scrap the en-vironmental work. It can wait."

Glen Wilson, loco car me-chanic, Transportation: "No-body's said anything about itthreatening our jobs, but I sus-pect that it could come to that.We've seen all this before atInco. Dropping nickel prices andjobs lost. I wouldn't want toever see it again."

The Triangle 3

Sopko speaks candidly about problemsfacing Inco in tough economic times

Since last spring, the price ofnickel has plunged, Russiannickel has flooded the marketand the tattered world economyis struggling back to life.

For nickel producers weath-ering these brutal conditions, it'sone more rough period in a cen-tury of boom and bust.

In recent weeks, events haveaccelerated and overtaken themost optimistic of recovery sce-narios. As one of the world'slargest nickel producers, Inco isregarded as iL company to pro-vide leadership and inspire stockmarket confidence in theindustry.

Although Inco has recentlyannounced sweeping measuresto cut production and reducecosts, including a company-wide,three-week production shutdownin mid-December, company off 1-cials have been front and centrein speaking candidly about thenickel situation today.

The following interview fromthe CBC show Profile, offers ex-cellent insights into recent com-pany decisions

If you find this informa-tive reading, let us know at682-54.25 and we will do ourveiy best to run more back-ground articles on the nickelbusiness in upcoming editionsof the Triangle.

C HR 1ST IN APOCHMURSKY (Host): Ontoday's Profile, you'll get aninside look at Inco Limited,the world's largest nickel pro-ducer. Company earnings arebeing squeezed by low metalprices and high productioncosts. We'll ask Inco's newchairman, Michael Sopko,how he plans to turn thingsaround. And two mining ana-lysts will be by later to tell uswhere they think lnco's stockis headed.

Inco has been in the nickelbusiness since the turn of thecentury. Itsuppliesabout 500-million pounds of hard metalto customers every year. Sincenickel is a key ingredient inthe manufacture of stainlesssteel, the metal finds its wayinto everything from subwaycars to art sculptures.

A lot of lnco's nickel comesfrom Sudbury, Ontario. lt's thecompany's core operation,employing more than 8,000people. Other big operationsare in Indonesia, Japan andWales. Inco is in the forefrontof innovative technology, in-duding remote control min-ing. This system allows an op-erator to work on the surfacewhile, thousands of feet be-low, a huge machine loads,hauls and dumps ore at hiscommand. But all of this so-phistication hasn't beenenough to offset low nickelprices. Prices have steadilyfallen over the last three yearsand that, in turn, has hurtlnco's bottom line. Profitsdropped to $83 million from ahigh of $750 million a fewyears ago. The downwardtrend has some investors won-dering if it's time to bail out oflnco before it's too late.

And joining me now isMichael Sopko, lnco chair-man. Michael Sopko, you took

over as chairman of Inco inApril, and the company is in abad fix right now with lownickel prices and high pro-duction costs. So either you'rea man who's a sucker forpunishment, or you love achallenge.

MICHAEL SOPKO (Chair-man and CEO, inco Ltd.):Wow! Well, first of all, let mejust say it was excellent tim-ing on my predecessor's part.You should keep in mind thatthe metals industry is verycyclical. In the case of nickel,we're talking a five- to seven-year cyde. We have our boomperiods and we have our diffi-cult, or bust, periods. We're

going through one of thoseright now. Yes, there are manychallenges. Challenges areusually great opportunitiesand we certainly are takingevery advantage now to dowhat's necessary to becomemuch more competitive glo-bally.

POCHMURSKY:Okay,let's just talk about some ofthe obstacles in your way.Analysts are very concernedabout Inco's production costs.They've increased from $63 atonne to $140 a tonne in thelast four or five years. Andthey say that's just too much;you can't possibly be competi-tive on world markets withthose kinds of productioncosts. So what are you goingto do about it?

SOPKO: Well, let me firstof all say that those costs arereal. We still are competitivewith most of the nickel indus-try by virtue of our size andtechnology. About one-thirdof the increases that you referto is due to ore grades and oretonnages. Now, we've beenworking very hard at bring-ing on line new mines -higher grade mines. And we'remaking progress there, andwe expect that trend will con-tinue in the years to come.We're already realizing somebenefit there today.

Another important part ofour costs is employment costs.In the nickel industry here inCanada, our employment cost

component equates to about50 per cent of the total operat-ing cost. That would compareto the 15 or2opercentthatwehave in Indonesia. Conse-quently, if you're going to com-pare or compete with the likesof Indonesia and other coun-tries where labor costs aresmall , your productivity -and that means technologyand performance of people -has to be that much higher.

Unfortunately, during athree- or four-year period, wedidn't keep pace. We had whatat the time were considered tobe appropriate collective bar-gaining agreements signedwith our unionized people,and unfortunately productiv-

'87, the Canadian dollar hasgone up by 15 cents. That'sover a $200 million-a-year hiton pre-tax earnings due toexchange rates only. Now, Icould cxy about that but I can'tset the policy. You know, that'swhat we've got to lIve with,and the important thing isthat we have to learn how tocompete at whatever the ex-change rate is.

POCHMURSKY: Ajidwhatever the cost of nickel it-self is, which has been goingdown and down and down. Atwhat point do you see somerelief from that score? Whenare nickel prices going to startrising again so that you can

I

. ,im

ity didn't keep pace with thesalaries we were paying.

POCHMURSKY: But willy.t ever be able to be trulycqzripetltive? Because as I tin-destand it, and I don't knowa lot about nickel mining, butthe mines in Canada are tin-deground; they're expensiveto get at; they're environmen-tally controversial - whereasfor example in Russia, whichis the world's largest producerof nickel, the kind of nickelthey have there is open pit,environmentally friendly,you've got low labor costs. Imean, aren't you at.a disad-vantage that you won't everbe able to overcome?

SOPKO: Well, that's whatthey told us in the early 'SOswhen people were predictingwe only had so many weeks togo before we went bankrupt.We showed them that Cana-dian operations can be com-petitive. In fact, our Ontrioand Manitoba divisions werethe lowest-cost producers inthe world. And that's whatwe're faced with today; ad-dressing the question of oregrade, addressing the ques-tion of labor costs and pro-ductivity.

And we also have anotherdisadvantage, and that's theCanadian dollar now. Theimpact of a one-cent increasein the value of the Canadiandollar relative to the U.S. dol-lar costs us $14 million a yearin pre-tax earnings. Now since

have a better bottom line?

SOPKO: First of all, let mesay that nickel consumptionis at a very respectable leveltoday. The problem is there'stoo much supply. A large partof that additional supply iscoming from Russia. Russiaused to consume large quan-tities of nickel internally forarmaments and other pur-poses. Their economy is insuch a shape and their poli-cies have changed to the pointthat internal consumption hasdropped dramatically. Andthey need the hard currency.

POCHMURSKY: So they'reselling it.

SOPKO: What they do isthey sell it.

POCHMURSKY: At distresslevels.

SOPKO: And that has putmore nickel on the marketthan the market can absorbat this time. Now, two thingscan happen. On the one hand,people can say, "Well, there'stoo much nickel. We'll cutback." Well, that hasn't hap-pened. On the other hand, wecan wait for the world econo-mies to pick up to the pointthat the extra nickel will beconsumed by the ability of thepeople to buy more materials.That will take a while to hap-pen. So in the short term, yes,there is a problem in the sup-ply-demand relationship -

but longer term, we see goodpotential growth rates fornickel. We see the Russiannickel being absorbed andcertainly we're working verydosely with them to make thathappen.

POCHMURSKY: Now atone point, Inco was going tobuy a smelter in Australia -and that got, sort of, whiskedaway from underyour nose. Isthat a major disappointmentthat you had to live with? Orare you just concentrating onlife at home and mining athome?

SOPKO: Well, we're com-mitted to maintaining a cer-tain market share. The nickelmarket is expanding and wehave to expand with it. Aus-tralia offered us the opportu-nity of getting nickel units forthe Pacific Rim countrieswhere we are a very big player.We worked on that deal forthe better part of a year. Wethought we had a deal withthe banks - but then the mi-nority shareholder, which isthe government of Queens-land, put a number of oner-ous conditions on our becom-ing a partner that we just hadto walk away. It wasn'twhisked away from us, wewalked away from the deal. Itjust didn't make sense anylonger for us to participate.

POCHMURSKY: But areyou looking at any othersmelters around the world? Orare you looking actively to-wards expansion at this point?Can you afford it?

SOPKO: Certainly we canafford it. We wouldn't havegone after Australia if wecouldn't afford it. We certainlyhave expansion possibilities.We have a smelter in Guate-mala which we could start upin short order. It's sitting thereright today - we have a tre-mendous ore body out there.We have the potential of ex-panding in Indonesia. Weearlier this year announcedthe purchase of major inter-ests in New Caledonia, whichis the largest nickel ore sourcein the world. So, we've been inthis business 100 years. We'vegot ores available for the next50, 60, 70 years, and our in-tention is to continue to be theleading nickel producer in theworld.

POCHMURSKY: And justlooking into the future, whendo you expect the fortunes ofInco to start turning up fromthis cyclical dip that you seenow?

SOPKO: Well, I'm optimis-tic. We're still showing a smallprofit for this year. I'm opti-mistic that, with all the meas-ures we're taking to improveour Cost situation, that we'regoing to start making biggerdollars even in this difficultsituation.

POCHMURSKY: MichaelSopko, thanks very much.

Michael Sopko, Chairman and CEO, Inco Ltd.

4 MARCH 1992

MajOr project by Stobie miners cutscosts, tightens scheduling and control

hen it comes to cooldudes, you can't beatthe Stobie miner.

And Gaston Duval, HenriGervois and Ben Pye haveearned the reputation of bring-ing some of the mine's biggestfonson board.

The fans in question aretwo huge 12-foot diameterventilation fans at Stobie's2,340-foot level that completea major project to keep up theair supply as Stobie miners godeeper and deeper.

The fresh air supply fansystem was the second andfinal stage of a project thatsaw identical booster returnair fans installed at the 1,400foot level of the mine by IncaConstruction.

"1 can't recall ever tryinganything like this with ourown people before," saidGaston, the constructionleaderforthe three-man Stobiecrew. "Itwasa real challenge.Since it was the first project of

its kind for us, we had no ac-curate way to estimate howlong it would take us."

Judging from sheer sizealone, it seems almost impos-sible that the three are respon-sible for the massive installa-tion. They're dwarfed in thehuge cavern that houses thefans, motors and concretefootings that they assembled,piece by piece, over the pastnine months.

"We figured it would takelonger than it did," saidGaston,

Stobie Construction Fore-man Jim Zinger calls that anunderstatement, although heisn't surprised at the perform-ance of his people.

"I knew our guys could doit,"he said. "Judging from howwell other projects have gonearound here, I had no doubtat all."

Mine superintendent MikeGmce hasa similar view. "Thisjust reinforces the conviction

around here that our peoplehave the skills and motiva-tion to take on the most ambi-tious projects," he said.

"Much of the success of theoverall project can be attrib-uted to the cooperation andteamwork of just about every-body at the mine, from engi-neering and electrical to me-chanical and operatinggroups," said Mike. "We heldweekly meetings that ensuredgood communication andproved invaluable for elimi-nating any unnecessary de-lays.

Fora major project like thisone it's important not only toget the work done, but to en-sure the prompt and timelydelivery of the components.That takes teamwork. Just howsmoothly this projectwent isagood indication of the waypeople work together aroundhere.

"We decided to do the sec-ond stage ourselves, not only

to bring our costs down, fol-low our own schedule and gainmore control of our ownproject, but to make it Possi-ble for Inco Construction to goon to other needed projectselsewhere."

Although it's the biggestproject tackled by Stobie's ownpeople that Mike can recall,he was confident from the startof their ability to do it.

"11 we have the time, wehave the people with the abili-ties to do most anything," hesaid.

He said the second phasefinished on budget, on timeand without injury. The lion'sshare of the work was done bythe three-man crew, althoughtemporary help was providedas required.

While the, work wentsmoothly, said Gaston, itwasn't easy. "All of this stuffhad to be brought down piece

Once at the site, it had tobe assembled. Concrete floors,pillars and bases for holdingthe two huge, six ton high-efficiency motors were in-stalled first as well as an over-head rail for moving the heavysections into place.

"It was an interestingproject, quite a challenge,"said Gaston. "I think most ofthe guys would lump at doingsomething like this again. Iiyou have a good crew witheverybody working well to-gether, that makes all the dif-ference. I figure the next timewe'd do it all the quicker. Youlearn on every job."

He notes that there is an"incredible difference" In thehigh-efficiency motors andfans compared with olderequipment.

"When you turn thesethings on it feels like they'llblow you over. The force is

by piece, along with the nor- incredible. Yet they hardlymal traffic here." make any noise at all."

Gaston Duvat, Henri Gervais and Ben Pye: Keeping things coot.

The Triangle S

Inco labs earn highest level of accreditation

C hemists in lab coats,rows of beakers withcolored contents, little

mechanical arms dippingprobes into revolving sampleholders. It all has the appear-ance of a Boris Karloff movie.

But that's where the simi-larity stops.

Inco laboratories, theiremployees and methods haveonce again placed themselvesunder the microscope to en-sure work being carried outhere is second to none aroundthe world.

Just over a year ago, theanalytical chemists and sup-port staff in Inco's five On-tario Division laboratoriesearned themselves a berthamong the best on the conti-nent by gaining accreditationfrom the American Associa-tion for Laboratory Accredi-tation.

In what chief chemist JohnBozic calls the labs' contribu-tion to the company's qualityimprovement emphasis, thelabs have recently earned aneven higher level of accredi-tation with the application ofrequirements of the Interna-tional Standards Organiza-tion (iSO).

"This reaccreditation done

by an independent auditorfrom the American Associa-tion for Laboratory Accredi-tation means that we haveexpanded our proven exper-tise and qualifications to thehighest level possible," saidJohn. "It's not just simply areaccreditation, but also anexpansion of what we canconfidently do here. We haveproven our ability, for exam-ple, by having all the analysisinvolved in the sulphur diox-ide emissions calculations ac-credited."

The labs are also now ac-credited for automotive cata-lyst analysis for platinum,palladium and rhodium. Theanalysis is done for GeneralMotors, one of several cus-tomers outside of Inco serv-iced by the lab.

"They are very pleased atthe lab's high levelpfaccredi-tation," said John.

John said the high level ofcompetence in Inco's analy-sis work tends to build confi-dence among Inco's manycustomers.

"When we sell a product tothe customer that we say hasonly a one part per millionimpurity, the accreditationmeans that the customer can

feel confident we are qualifiedto come up with that figure. Ifwe are selling nickel and it'sgoing to 'be used in a highperformance jet engine, that

confidence is crucial."Analytical supervisors at

Inco laboratorjs are JimBellany at the Copper Refin-ery, Gideon Smith at the Nickel

Refinery, John Breau at theSmelter and Bob Varden atthe Port Colborne Refinery. AlGlaab is the Quality Controlcoordinator.

Voicemail effectiveness depends on user

C alm, cool and collectedas we think we are,we've all had the

experience of losing our com-posure at the busy signal we'vebeen getting for the last houror so.. . or the person who wejust know is on the otherend of thering and _________won't pickup thephone.

Theexp e ri -ence canruin another-wisesunnyday.

TIM,Inco's

ephone, LI

Integrated ( )Messaging \\ '

system, isan attemptto give Incotelephoneusers a lessfrustratingday. The sys-tem has beenin operation for about threeyears and is working well. Tel-ecommunications coordina-tor Mary Sitko said that morethan 50 per cent of people inthe Division who can be

hooked up have done so. Be-tween 10 and 20 new peoplesign up every week.

Yet, Mary warns thathappy TIM users caninadvertentlycause anew -

kind of problem that comescloser to an insult than a frus-tration.

"Consider the person who'sleft you a message requiring aresponse and you don't get

beck to him within a reason-able time," said Mary. "That'slie responding to a friendly

hellowithasnarl. You'retelling him or her thatyou're not interestedin what they have tosay."

Mary points outthat this unfortunate"message" can besent inadvertently ifthe TIM userdoesn't keep hisrecorded greeting

/ up-to-date. "Ifyou forget to re-place your 'out-of-the-office'

greeting with 'on-vacation-for-three-weeks' message, thecaller is going to think you'reignoring him or her.

"The overwhelming major-ity of users are very happy

with our system," said Mary,"but that doesn't mean it can'tbe improved. Our success re-lies heavilyó'n the best possi-ble communication.

Used to its fullest potential,our voice mailing system canbe a 'major contributor."

Some suggestions Mary hasfor TIM users include:

1. Don't hide behind voicemail; reply promptly.

2. Personalize your greet-ings and change themfrequently.

3. Leave detailed messagesto avoid telephone tag.If you're requesting informa-tion, make sure your messages

are complete and concise.Good information helps therecipient respond completelyto requests via voice mail.

4. Address only one or twotopics per message.

5. Be brief. If you're ram-bling, re-record.

6. State the key point bythe third sentence. Don't savea surprise for the end of yourmessage.

7. Talk live or write a memoif the topic is sensitive orcomplex.

8. Use the urgent deliveryoption with discretion. In somecases an urgent deliveryoption can trigger a person'spager.

Nationalizeor Eulogize

At a ceremony marking things we do well," Rae wasthe expansion of Inco's j. quotedassayinginthesept.Roy Gordon Research Labo- 15 edition of the Torontoratory, Ontario Premier Bob Star.Rae,whoseNewDemocrattc About 300 people at-Partyoncecailedforthena- tended the Mississaugatlonalization of Inco, praised event, Including federal andthe company's research and municipal representatives.development track record

t Cll d idOfficials used scisssors pow.-

riickel-cadmiumbat-eredbt a greaca e ona-an ydian success story. teries to cut a nickel-coated

"We don't give ourselves fibre ribbon, a product ofenough pats on the back for Inco's research labs.

Analytical supervisor Bill Flora, chief chemist John Bozic, quality control coordinatorAl Glaab and section leader Dave Maskery examine a sample at the Central ProcessTechnology lab.

6 MARCH 1992

1

I

Port Colborne project 'shear' ingenuity

Port Colborne's Yard,Shipping and Sheanng

AutoSheanng team hasgone a long way to improvewhat they do.

All the way to Manitoba.When the Total Quality

Improvement team noticedsome problems with their cath-ode quality, they approachedthe problem from supplier tocustomer, beginning a chainreaction that today savesmoney, time, effort and a lotof frustration.

Since the Port ColbomeRefinery is the majorelectronickel customer ofInco's Thompson, ManitobaRefinery, Port Colborne teamrepresentatives travelled toThompson to discuss the situ-ation with their northern

GezaSzalkai, Inno Stocco,ry Hoffman and Bob,bum took alonq two vid-

1 operations and

- _____d-S.

o Crognale, Carry Hoffman and Plardo GrImaldithe troublesome "finger" type feedgate.

'oshearing in detail. Prob-is experienced by Port shearrotors were illustrated,

ng with possible solutionssuggestions for improve-

"We discovered ways ofproving things that are tormutual interest," said TQI)rdinator Bob Reyburn. "Byrking together we discov-d areas where we could re-ce variation. Through co-eration, we made each oth-s job easier and more effec-e."Within hours of the pres-tation, the Thompson op.tion instituted significant

anges in the way cathodeeets were sorted. Even he-e returning to Ontario, thert team saw signs that theoperative effort initiated by

cathode quality going tot Colborne.The exchange proved hen-:ial to both. Discussionsh Thompson revealed dif-ences in the way mainte-nce crews change manualar blades, and the Port

Colborne team is now, at therequest of Thompson, produc-ing a training video on theirmethod of blade changing foruse at both refineries.

"It's the perfect example ofcooperation and commercialteamwork," said Bob. "Welearn from them, they learnfrom us. They made adjust-ments at their end to makeour job easier, hut it ended upbeing a two-way street. Theylearned from us, too."

The Manitoba connectionwas only port of the focus asthe team studied all aspects ofthe Port Colborne processwhich cuts full-plate cathodesinto squares for Inco custom-ers.

Customer complaintsabout inconsistent sizing, highmaintenance costs and fre-quent down-time made theprocess an area with high po-tential for improvement.

"Although we're still im-proving the process, the equip-ment is already running morereliably than ever," said Bob.I think that's because every-body involved in the process

was canvassed about whatshould be done to Improve It.We have just about everybodyInvolved, from maintenancepeople and industrial trades-men to electricians, shear op-erators, sorters and engineers."

Customer complaintsabout inconsistent sizing havealready been greatly reduced,thanks to an idea by mainte-nance mechanic Inno Stoccothat led to a redesignedfeedgate.

The feedgate aligns thestrips and holds them as thethey are cut into different sizes.A row of spring-loaded steelfingers on the feedgate thatheld the strips was the prob-lem. Fingers would break off

causingslippage of

I the stripsI and subse-

quent in-_________ consistent

'4

- sizing. The- problem- also cre-

_____ated sig-nificantmain t e -

nan ce- problems

______ and equip-m e n tdowntime,-

and thebroken-offpiece be-came un-wantedforeignmaterial inthe f in-ished prod-uct.

In noredesignreplacedthe fingenwith slot5in a length

of steel."it practically eliminated

the constant maintenanceproblem and downtime," saidBob. "We used to have to shutthe shear down at least once aday. With the new feedgate, itruns for months without ahitch. Slippage has beengreatly reduced as well, mak-ing our sizing more consistentand our customers happy."

Still a prototype, the newfeedgate design is still underdevelopment In an effort tofurther reduce the amount ofslippage.

A design change in thevacuum lifter used to pick upthe cathodes has been imple-mented as well. Redesigningthe suction head and supply-ing a dedicated vacuum pumpfor the operation has virtuallyeliminated the problem ofcathodes dropping due to suc-tion failure. A redesigned han-dle on the equipment has alsomade it easier and safer tooperate.

Team members are alsoworking with blade manufac-turers in an effort to increasethe number of cuts each knifecan handle. Heat treatmentsand sharpening are just someof the possibilities beinglooked at. Any increase in thelife of the blades would elimi-nate some of the four-hourdowntime required to changethem. The blades are nowchanged about twice a week.

The team discovered an-other blade problem In aunique way. Since nickel isslightly magnetic, each blademust be demagnetized by themanufacturer. Team rnem-bers suspected that inconsist-ent demagnetizing was a prob-lem and that pieces werehanging up on the blades dueto magnetic attraction, result-ing in offsized pieces in theproduct.

Since the blade moves toofast for the problem to be seen,the trick was to verify theirsuspicions. To solve the prob-lem, a slow motion video cam-era was set up and suspicionswere confirmed:'We're chip-ping away at the headaches apiece at a time," said Yard,Shearing and Shipping super-visor Gary Hoffman. 'There'sno doubt that the overall pro-duction is up. We have lessdowntime, and fewer unfore-seen snags and frustrationsfor the operators.'!

Process engineer Heiko.Leers sees the AutoShearingproject as more than a pro-ductivity and cost-saving ac-.complishment. "The systemoperates more effectively to-day," he sold, "because thepeople on the job were con-suited. The teamwork aspectof the project is obvious andpeople know it. ltbuildsteam-work and pride in theoperation."

Team spirit was the key to finding solutions In the autoshearing process. Some ofthe people who contributed are, from left Nardo Grimaldi, Blaglo Crognaie, HelkoLeers, inno Stocco, Bob Reyburn, Barry Bitner, John Overall, Tony Domenicucci andFior DlBartolomeo.

Bob Reyburn and DavidRusenstrom with thenewly designed slottedgate.

Nardo Grimaldl with Improved vacuumlifter. In the foreground Is the newcompressor dedicated to the lifter.

The Triangle 7

From Divisional Shops to the Smelter,we're doing things better

C ontinuous improve-ment, total quality improvement, total qual-

ity management, call it whatyou will it means one thing:utilizing the brain power ofevery employee. This is nogreat secret and it is begin-fling to become an ever in-creasing part of our division'sculture.

This past spring it could beseen in the C.C. Smelter whenthey faced production prob-lems. With excess capacity inthe process before and afterthe Smelter's nickel circuit itwas time to put that brainpower to work to meet theincreasing demands of otheroperating areas. Respondingto the need Sid Segsworth,nickel circuit superintendent,put together a cross-functionalteam to help identify areas ofopportunity for improvementin the smelting process. Madeup of Sid, converter skimmerAndy Contant, industrial me-chanic Tony Fragomeni, mainaisle craneman MauriceRegimbal, smelter foreman EdForget, process engineer LorisMolino, and Smelter TCI co-ordinator Don Stewart, theteam used brainstorming tech-niques to identify issues thataffected the converter aisle'sperformance. The team's hardwork resulted in a recommen-dation that four areas of op-portunity be studied. Theseare: process communications,training and manpower,tuyere maintenance practices,and environmental dusting.

In late September fourteams will be established tostudy the concerns and pro-duce recommendations foraction. Great stuff guys. Wewill update everyone on theseteams outcomes in a futureedition... Shed a little light

What is the best way toshed light on a problem?

Well, as the people in theDivisional machine shop com-plex discovered it can be atricky issue. An opportunitywas seen to improve the light-ing in the area but the ques-

tion was how. When the shopswere built in the late 1970'shigh pressure sodium (HPS)lighting was installed givingthe workplace the yellowish-orange hue that is character-istic of these type of lights.

tablished a lighting team tolook at what Improvementscould be made. Lead by BryanChisnell, shop electrician, theteam consisted of Jim Angove,machinist, Rock Bouchard,heavy duty equipment me-

will be the benefits? The mostobvious outcome will be anincrease in the colour rendi-tion factor from 22 to 70. Thecolour rendering index Isscaled from 1 to 100, with 100being daylight illumination.

This Is the team thetis literally throwing some light on the Continuous Improvementphilosophy at Divisional Shops. From left are general foreman Willy Metson, mechanic RockBouchard, machinist Jim Angove, electrical technician Bryan Chisnell, Engineer Jeff Fuller andteam facilitator Scott Stewart. IIot present is machinist Tim Morse. The light fixture is a 400watt high pressure sodium uniCof the kind to be replaced with 1,000 watt metal halide units.

Over the years concerns were chan1c, Jeff Fuller, senior de- The amb$it light in the shopexpressed that the poorer col- sign engineer, and Willy will increase from the currentour rendition of the HPS lights Metson, shops general fore- 76 footcandlesto 115 foot-can-did not offer the necessary man, Tim Morse, machinist, dies with no increase in'thesupport to some aspects of the and C.I.A.T. facilitators Scott operating costs. Additionallyworkperformancethatshould StewartandUgoDorigo. They from information accumu-be expected In a precision ma-' had many factors to consider lated by the team, the im-chine shop operation. But such as colour rendition, light proved lighting conditions willgiven the Division's emphasis output, installation patterns have a variety of benefits suchon energy conservation, the and cost. The team's final rec- as: increased morale and pro-switch back to the whiter mer- ommendation, which was ac- ductivity, greater accuracy,curyvapourlIghtlngcouldnot cepted, was to replace 98 of improved safety, and lessbe contemplated. As newprod- the 298 existing 400 watt HPS worker fatigue.ucts came on the market lights with 98 l000watt metal A second majôroutcomeisthough, new options pre- halide fixtures by December that an energy conservationsented themselves, of 1993. The cost of the fix- program has begun to reduce

Early in 1992 the shops es- tures will be $43,000. So what lighting costs in the shops.

Lights are now turned off dur-ing the off shift hours whichamounts to 50% of the time.This will result in approxi-mately a 28% reduction in thelighting power consumption.The lower percentage cost re-

uctionisduetoloweroffpeakower rates. CongratulationsBrian and his team fortheir

Closing the loopThe Continuous Improve-

ent Action Team's loss is the.C. Copper Refinery's gain.wo of its team members areoving to the C.C.C.R. Ugoorigo of the Certral Mainte-ance and Utilities CIAT isturning to his job as the TQIordinator there and Steveood, formerly general fore-an of Levack Mine andember of the Ore flow C1ATam is joining the refinery'sanagement group as super-tendent of refining.The Ore Flow team is also

roudly giving up Bob Kerr,rmerly mine foreman atobie mine, who will take upnew position as TQI coordi-ator for the Frood-Stobieomplex. To Ugo, Steve, andoh we extend our best wishesnd thanks fora job well done.

CIAT and TQI, how do theyt together? That will be thepic of a mini-conference

slated for late September. De-slgnedto identify how to buildon the successes and avoid thepitfalls each process has expe-rienced, the conference willbring together representativesof both groups. The Sudburyoperation's 10 TQI coordina-tors and the 10 CIAT teamleaders will meet to discussthe future of the quality move-ment and offer up suggestionsto the executive steering teamon how best we can foster theprinciples of quality improve-ment. Certainly an exampleof teamwork at its' finest...

If you have any questionsor comments about this col-umn please call us at the CIAToffice at 682-5231 or fax usat682-5312.

,..,, "ErS.

Lighting upwith Less

Ontario Hydra Industrial Energy Advisor Mel Horgu atPower Department energy coordinator Andy Lemay dispicand energy-saving compact fluorescent bulb that uses aproximately 45 per cent less energy than a standard bulb. Tienergy-saving bulbs are just one part of an Inco-wide lightirretrofit prolect that will save inca an estimated $1.5 annuallMel presented Inco with a $250,000 cheque, part of a $1million package of Hydra incentives tied to lnco's enerconservation efforts.'

- : ,/ ,d"

I'- I

Popafioin unicn

- -

carefully nurtured,well- housed, well-fed,

rapidly propagatingand pampered workforce ofcountless billions may helpInco transform once-activemining sites as near as possi-ble to their pristine naturalstate.

If researchers can work thebugs in.

In a unique research projectpartially funded by lnço, re-searchers are building testneighborhoods to entice alka-linity-producing bacteria tomove in and propagate.

"We are trying to harnessthe bugs to treat the oddity inthe water," said project man-ager Tom Hynes of Environ. BacterImental Control. "The bcte- acid rena release alkalinity in the shapedwater, neutralizing the acid- The maIty during the process of con-verting sulphate to sulphide." job," said Tom.

It it works, said Tom, at Forthepastthreeleast part of future researchers from Bodecorpmissioning of Inca sites search Ltd. of Toromay b done in the most envi- been "ecologicallyronmentally-fniendly method ing" a series of porpossible, without huge appli- base of the tailingcations of chemicals and other Makela Seepagemore ecologically-disruptive Coiled "engineered 'procedures. the ponds have bee

"We're trying to set things •cally engineered to 1up so nature itself can do the pitable as possible

'I

p

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_:,...

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I

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olonizatlon fromtion using mlcrolcterla typical of sIficatlon Is 1,700

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• .c. ..

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sion a key element)nmental project

trying to do is to help propa-gate a larger population of

- : the ones we need for the proc-ess."

To provide the necessaryfood chain, about four or fivedifferent kinds of bacteriamust feel at home in theirexperimental Inco environ-

. . ment."We have to find a way to

keep them all happy," saidTom.

He said there's ample evi-dence that the procedureworks. "We've taken a highlyacidic area at the tailings and

- used the procedure to greatlyreduce the acidity. What isuncertain is if it'll work at a

lakela site samples in which the scale that Is useful for us."ilogy processes Is active. Spiral The successful tests werephate reducers are apparent. done with watertlows of no

greater than a litre a minute.This year's testing will deter-

bacteria. the cattails decay and serve as mineifthe procedure will workpage at the base a meal for the bacteria. The . atthe.muchgreaterwaterflows

un Re- of thedam Is diverted into the floating mats keep the roots needed for minehave test ponds. hon settles in the off the bottom where they decommissioning purposes.

ineer- first two ponds and the treat- would compete with the bugs "We.are trying to establishat the ment takes place in the re- for nutrients in the bottom where the limitations of thisam at maining two ponds. sediment. . process are, "said Tom. ' If theution. Researchers have planted "We are not. introducing watertlows are too fast it will.ands," cattails on floating mats to new kinds of bacteria," said flush out the bugs or move)rgani- provide a food source for the Tom. "The organisms we need• through the ponds too fast foras has-, "bugs." Very hardy and able are naturally present in the the chemical reaction to workthe de- to withstand the acidic water, environment. What we are effectively. If the waterflow

The Triangle 9

limits to the procedure are tooslow, it will make the proce-dure ineffective for our require-ments."

By the end of this year'smonitoring, researchersshould know if they'll con-tinue or scrap the project.

"This has never been triedbefore. It's basic research,"said Tom. "We estimate thatit has about a 50-50 chance ofworking. It may not be a surebet, but if it works it would bea major breakthrough in ourdecommissioning strategy."

Avoiding heavy dosages ofchemicals would be just oneof the advantages. "It's a lowmaintenance, passive solu-tion," said Tom. "There isn'tthe power consumption,pumps, machinery, mainte-nance and manpower that'susually required fordecommissioning work. It'sparticularly useful for sites inremote areas where access isdifficult, where it's difficult toget men and machinery in."

If the experiment succeeds,about the only Inco input intothe process would be periodicmonitoring to see if mothernature is doing the job.

Even if it works, Tom doubtsthe method will be applicablein the near future to largersites such as the Copper Clifftailings area. But it would beideal, he said, at the manysmaller sites. He speculatedthat further research and ex- •,perience gained in applyingbiological engineering could 1provide answers for using themethod at larger sites.

Applicability to site-specificconditions, according toBoojum Research presidentMargaret Kahn, is the thrustof this year's research. "Ratesof metal removal from wastewater streams will be quanti-fled based on pond depth, flow,metal concentration andgrowth rates.

"Although the effort to ar-rive at ecological engineeringsolutions has yielded to dateno completed success stories,a successful decommissioningsolution lies in helping naturere-establish ecosystem equilib-rium in the long-term. Thepotential economic benefits ofthis approach seem to out-weigh those of any othercurrent decommissioningoption"

I'11jjI\J

'.-. .

IDt4 'f

Researcher Alan Unwin spreads slow-releasefertilizer on the platform soil.

Inco summer student Mary-Jo Santi and AlanUnwin do some water sampling in an outdooron-site laboratory.

-.

- .' 71

'I

• 1.1•rThe series of ponds at the base of the tailings dam atMakela Seepage Station show as white boxes just abovethe lower right corner of this picture. The photo wastaken last winter.

Martin Smith holds upflax and hay that providesfood for acid reducingbacteria. The blackenedsections are re-mineralized metals.

Matthew English of Boojum Research stretches to plant cattail seedlings on afloating platform.

10 MARCH 1992

Soggy PPO golfersfashion flood wearN ever mind that it

wasn't sport at its pro-fessional best. It was

the avant-garde in rainwear.Safety and Plant Protection

Golf Tournament participantsshook defiant fists at the heavygrey overcast sky, drizzlingrain and soggy greens andtailored imaginafive raincoatsout of plastic garbage bagssupplied by the Pineg rove Golfand Country Club.

It looked a little like aLandfill Convention as thewrinkly green golfers sloshedaround nine holes, some fan-ning wildly at the little whiteball in an apparent effort todry it off.

"It's the first tournamentwe've had in over a decade,"said Len Leclair, one of theorganizers. "All 48 people whoregistered for it turned outdespite the rain. Nobody can-celled out. That has to tell yousomething about the enthusi-asm around here."

He said it was the depart-ment's summer students whowere instrumental in revivingthe annual golf tournament."The students wanted to dosomething together with ouremployees before they had toleave. We figured itwas a goodtime to test to see if the tour-nament could be revived."

Not only will the tourna-ment be held again next year,but Len figures it'll be ex-panded to 18 holes. "With thiskind of response, we'll go withit again."

Holding social events in thedepartment is particularlyhard, he said, because of thenature of the work. "We'vegot a good percentage of ourpeople on duty at any giventime. That makes it hard forus to get everybody out. Butour supervisors did their bestto allow as many people toturn out as possible."

Len Leclair gets readyto swing.

-I--

Guest golfer Cathy Mulroy of North Mine fans the ball,apparently to dry it off. She came prepared with araincoat.

Do you skip breakfast? Or,do you breakfast or coffee anddonuts?

If so, you are one of manyCanadians who do not starttheir day with a nutritiousmeal. About one-third ofadults over 15 years do nothave breakfast regularly. Asmany as half of Canadianchildren have a poor break-fast or none at all.

Breakfast is a powerfulmeal because it gives energyto replenish your body afteran all night fast. Breakfasteaters have more energy andconcentration than breakfastskippers and they also havediets with more of the neces-sary nutrients.

Reasons often given forskipping breakfast include:

I have no time. I'm rush-ing to work. I like to sleep late.

I want to lose weightI'm not hungry when I first

wake up.If you believe you are

saving calories by skippingbreakfast, think again. Youalmost always eat more laterin the day.

If you are not hungry firstthing or you are short on timeremember, breakfast does nothave to be eaten immediatelywhen you get out of bed. Youcan pack breakfast and eat inthe car on the way to work oron your morning break.

If you can't face a wholebreakfast meal then start outgradually. Even one or twonutritious foods like a glass ofmilk and a piece of fresh fruitare better than nothing at all.

Also,jf you snack late atnight or have heavy eveningmeals this may reduce yourappetite fe breakfast foods. Ifthis is the case, try changingyour snacking and supperhabits.

What foods make up apower breakfast

A good breakfast shouldprovide one-quarter to one-third of your daily calories.Yourbreakfast should have atleast three of the four foodgroups - fresh fruit or fruitjuice, breakfast cereal or wholegrain bread, and a protein

food from the meat or milkgroups like cheese, milk, yo-gurt, eggs, peanut butter orcold meat or fish.

It is also important tochoose lower fat, high fibrebreakfast foods.

Watch out for the granola,bacon, sausages, danish andcroissant. They are loadedwith fat and calories.

Eggs, are they okay?If, like most people, your

blood cholesterol levels arenormal, there is no need foryou to cut out eggs or anyother cholesterol-containingfood. Up to five eggs, includ-ing those used in cooking andbaking, is considered a rea-sonable weekly intake forhealthy people.

However, it your blood cho-lesterol level is really high andit is not coming down, eggswill be restricted not only be-cause of their cholesterol butalso because of their fatcontent.

Reading breakfast cereallabels

Hot or ready-to-eat cerealis one of the fastest and mostnutritious breakfasts. Add fruitand use two per cent, one percent oçskim milk and youhave an easy, inexpensivehealthy nal. All cereals arelow in fat except store boughtgranola.

Cereals are among the bestlabelled foods. Look at thenutrition information on theside panel and buy one that isa high or very high source offibre.

Fast food breakfastsChoose wisely. Egg and

cheese combinations on bunsor biscuits are loaded with fatand sodium. Some large sizemuffins can have as much fatas deep fried donuts.

What about coffee?You should drink no more

than four cups of regular cof-fee a day. Try half coffee andhalf milk, a decaffinated cof-fee or a brew that mixes regu-lar coffee with decaffinatedgrounds.

Power Breakfasts

Plant Protection officer Roger Daoust is dressed in a high-fashion garbage bag gownand Audio Visual's Mike Barrette wears a fashionable plastic miniskirt as theyattempt to get some life out of the golf cart.

Lionel Rodrigue, Garnet Phillips, Cathy Mulroy, LisePhilipow and Bruce Sheehan wait for the next well-done steak.

The Triangle 1

Contest will name Incoenergy mascotT he Power Department

is entering the secondphase of its Energy

Awareness program with thelaunching of a con-test to name theprogram's cartoonmascot. CYV!

Open to elemen-tary school chil-dren of Inco em-ployees, the con-test is advertisedin this issue ofthe Triangle.

Accordingto Power De-partment en-ergy coordinator AndyLemay, the contest is partof a wide-ranging pro-gram to continue pro-moting energy aware-ness through on-goingposter and informa-tion projects directedat reminding employ-ees that all have a stake inreducing electrical costs.

The first phase of the pro-gram involved the produc-tion and distribution of avideo entitled Who left thelights on? The video featuresinterviews with a cross sectionof Inco employees who elabo-rate on energy saving meth-

ods that have been or soonwill be implemented through-out

(' theDivi-

sion aswell as

things em-ployees have

done to cut en-ergy costs at

home.Along with the

contest, a coloring

book titled Who left the lightson? has been commissioned.To be made available for em-ployees to take home to theirchildren, the coloring book willinclude mazes, quizzes, comicstrips, facts and falsehoodsand a host of other interest-

ring activities to help pro-triote an awareness of energyconsumption.

Ontario Division presidentJim Ashcroft is one of sevenjudges who will pick the win-

ner of the mascot namingcontest. Others on the

panel are SteelworkersLocal 6500 and 6600presidents DaveCampbell and HaroldLove, Engineerin as-sistant manager fohnLeMay, Karen

DeBenedet of Public Af-fairs, consultant RalphaSenderowitz and cartoonist VicTheriault.

A computer systems opera-tor with Information Systems,Vic drew the mascot and willbe doing the lion's share ofthe work on the coloring book,posters and other program artwork.

The contest winner will beannounced in the NovemberTriangle.

Inco searches for lost volcanoes

T he raven soars in lazycircles and screeches ataunting cry as he sur-

veys the land and the mancrouched in the field below.The sound of the bird drawsthe attention of Mike Peterswho raises his head from hiswork and shields his eyes fromthe hot sun as he looks towardthe sky. "That bird knows thesecret of the lost volcanoes ..."

Does this sound like thebeginning of a dramaticnovel? Well, it's just anotherday in Inco's land reclama-tion program and volcanoesand ravens are at the centre ofthis particular story.

Mike Peters, grounds spe-cialist - turned volcanologist(of sorts) has his hands

full of volcanoes as he ex-plains the situation. Thesearen't the kind of volcanoes

that spit fire and moltenlava. Just the opposite. "Theynurture and protect pine

seeds as they germinateand develop into seedlings.

The "volcanoes" are actu-ally compressed peat moss andare under evaluation for usein Inco's reclamation pro-gram. A pine seed is glued tothe bottom of a peat pelletwhich is then placed into aone-inch hole in the groundand covered with a com-pressed peat cone whose ap-pearance is similar to that of avolcano. The seed is protectedthrough the germination stageand later the peat disolves intothe soil surrounding the grow-

ing seedling. The advantageis that all growth stages occurin the field.

The existing growing pro-gram requires much mormanual handling. It beginswhen seeds are planted ana.germination occurs in the Incagreenhouse or at the 4,600foot-level of Creighton Mine.After germination the seed-lings are moved outside toacclimatize. Screens shield thetrays of seedlings from directsunlight. This "hardening"period lasts approximatelytwo weeks. The seedlings arethen planted in areas where agrass cover has been estab-lished.

This past spring Inco's rec-lamation experts, alwayssearching for ways to improveregreening efforts, placed 125of the volcanoes in a test plotlocated between ClarabelleMill and North Mine.

A few weeks later, it wasdiscovered that most of thevolcanoes had disappeared.Among those that remained,most had germinated success-fully. Small wire cages nowprotect them.

Anxious to solve the mys-tery of the lost volcanoes, Mikeconsulted with experiencedforesters. Yes, they had seenthisbefore. Apparently, ravenshave a cravin' for the peatmoss pellets and cones andhave been caught"croplifting" in similar treeplots.

A quick check of the

Audobon Field Guide to NorthAmerican Birdsprovides a clueto the largeblack birds' moti-vation. Ravens' nests consistOf a mass of sticks containinga cup lined with fur, lichensand moss! This revelation re-sulted in a theory. Somewherethis spring, nestled high on acliff or in the top of a tree, thepeat moss volcanoes helpedto nurture and protect ravenhatchlings!

Curious to verify the theory,environmental personnel tookadvantage of an unfortunatecircumstance which befell tworavens who chose to make theInco tailings area their home.A large nest, built years agoand used annually, was top-pled from its perch atop a deadpoplar tree during this sum-mer's memorable wind storm.A quick dissection of thegrounded nest's constructionmaterials yielded, amongother things, sticks, fuzzycattail seeds, wads of string,some "0" rings, insulation, awire bucket handle, Some cop-per wire, and yes, shreddedbits of compressed peat moss.

Mystery solved.Despite this years' setbacks,

if the experiment is a successand the "volcano" programworth expanding, then a newmethod of discouraging theravens will have to be sought.The prospect of small cageslittering the landscape in notan attractive one.

The odd scarecrow mightbe interesting.

Come upwith the

best namefor the

IncoEnergy

AwarenessMascot

and win:•A tour of Lnco's Power Department'A framed copy of the Energy Mascot poster'A rechargeable battery kit'An officiai Energy Awareness T-shirt'Your name will appear in every copy ofthe Energy Awareness coloring book

I

II

VISend your entry to: Iluco Power Services Centre, 1C/O Andy Lemay,Copper Cliff, POM INO I

I - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Clip this ad or send us the name you havechosen in a short note and,J,nclude:

Weilness a project for Inco pensioner

Roger Paquin: health is his project

- - '-

522-9200

\\'\\!I,

• feels like he's 46 years young.Eating right, exercise and

• cutting out bad habits area few of the things to whichhe attributes his good health."I have always been fortunateto have good health butI'm now learning better waysto look after myself," he

'i' said.For the past two years,

Paquinandhiswifehavebeeninvolved in a health promo-tion program called Wellnessand You sponsored by the Sud-bury and Disthct Health Unit.

"I have learned quite a bit' k from the program. Before at-

tending the sessions we neverthought about the amount ofcholesterol in the food we wereeating. Nowwe always checkwhen we go out shopping,"said Roger.

A public health nurse vis-its the Club Joie de Vivre towhich Roger belongs. Aboutonce a week, she discussesvarious issues with the group,ranging from the myths about

... aging and what is in yourmedicine cabinet to street andhome safety.

Roger has tried to practicewhat he has learned and it'spaying off. "I believe if you

take care of yourself you willfeel better and I do," he said."My wife says that I eat betternow than I ever did. If I don'thave breakfast in the morn-ing I don't leave the house."

Retirement certainly hasn'tslowed Roger down. He is asbusy now as he was when heworked at Inco for 47 years.He started working when hewas 14 and retired in 1984 atthe age of 61. Paquin workedas a craneman in Conistonand then as a lift truck opera-tor in Copper Cliff.

The hardest part is fittingall of his activities in. "I like tokeep busy by doing carpentryand gardening. The only prob-lem is that I have no time togo camping," he said.

Staying active is importantfor Roger. "I talked to one guywho said that he got up in themorning, ate breakfast, had acigarette and then watchedtelevision the rest of the day.That's not the life for me," hesaid.

Rogei has just started anexercise *program with theClub Joie de Vivre. "It's a lot offun. We get together once aweek every Saturday to walkand do various exercises."

He is leading a healthierlifestyle now and encourageshis friends and family to fol-

low his lead. "My daughterused to go to work in the morn-ing without eating breakfastuntil I told her that it was themost important meal of theday," said Roger, who hasraised eight children inSudbury.

Over the years he haskicked a few bad habits. Hesays that he quit smoking ciga-rettes when a package cost 38cents. "I just threw them outone day and I have felt betterever since." He now passessweets by. "I went to an IncoChristmas party last year andI took a box of donuts with mebut I didn't have any. Ilaughed and told the secre-tary that they weren't goodfor me."

Dorothy Thomson,Wellness and You program co-ordinator, says Roger is a typi-cal participant. "He is in goodhealth but like many seniorshe needs to know how he cankeep that way," she said.

"We have a number of re-tired Inco employees in theprogram which is geared tothe specific needs of peQple 65and older.

If seniors are interested theyjust have to contact me at theSudbury regional health of-fice and I can find them a spotin the free program."

It's hard to keep a good pensioner down"One . . . two . . . three

Bungee !!!!"ithout a second's

hesitation, Inco pen-sioner Olgert Plavins

dove head-first from the plat-form 150 feet above CedarPointe Mall. Arms stretchedstraight out in front and eyesbulging, he watched helplesslyas the ant colony on the pave-ment below rushed at him toreveal a sea of upturned faces.

"Actually, coming downwas the easiest part," said the65-year-old former South Mineheavy equipment mechanicwho retired this year after 41years with Inco. "It's standingin line waiting to go upthat's the hard part."

The loose tether trailing theairborne figure like an um-

bilical cord straightened andstretched, then contracted. Hisankles tied to the cord, Olgertyanked into reverse. The tethercontracted and stretched atleast four times, and in thesplit-second still point betweenthe tether's contraction andexpansion, Olgert floppedaround like a kite in a wind-storm, then plunged down-ward again.

"I was standing in thelineup waiting to go up and Istarted to edge my way outwhen my son asked me if Iwas going to go up. That didit. That's when I made up mymind to do it. I'm not afraid ofheights but I'm not all thatcomfortable with them either.It scares me sometimes.

"On the way up on the

oger Paquin may be 68years old but the retiredInco emniovee sczvs he

iLNE

L'

platform my heart was kindof pounding. I knew that if Ihesitated, I'd be in trouble. Idecided to jump right away. Ifigure the longer you wait, theworse it becomes."

The trip up on the plat-form seemed an eternity, butonce out on the ledge therewas little fear left, only pureexcitement. On the count ofthree, he sailed into the airlike an Olympic diver.

"I've always liked personalchallenges. That's one of thereasons I liked my job at Inco.It was always interesting, al-ways something new. I don'tthink I did this to prove some-thing to other people. I see achallenge as a personal thing.I do it for me."

A bare-chested Olgert hung

like a slab of meat in a butchershop as the last bounce wentout of the elastic tether. Thewild gyrations had pushed his

sweatshirt almost over hishead. The tether slowly low-ered Olgert to a thick mattresson the ground. With feet stilltied to the cord and laying flaton his back, Olgert spotted hisson among the sea of specta-tors. Wearing a broad grin, hegave a triumphant twothumbs up.

Olgert claims he's nor-mally not the daredevil type,although some of his regularactivities like windsurfing anddownhill skiing (he's been onthe Ski Patrol at Onaping forthe past 10 years) are hardlythe traditional activities of asenior citizen.

"I keep busy now that I'mretired," he said. "Time suregoes fast when you're apensioner."

Olgert Plavins steps ontothe platform.

No accidents, missed shifts in 39 yearsfor Levack historian/miner

hen you pay atten-tion to your own lifeas closely as Hans

Brasch does, perhaps 39 yearsof accident-free work isn't asamazing as it sounds.

Despite the fact that he'sbeen involved in virtually allof the most hazardous under-ground lobs in his lengthycareer as a Levack miner,Hans' records don't show asmuch as a hangnail.

And then there's the Levackskip hoistman's penchant forrecord keeping. He stores,records and indexes lust aboutevery significant event of hislife, from the first buck hemade at Inco to on-the-jobphotographs taken almost 40years ago.

That could explain whyhe's never missed a shift in hisfour decades at Levack. . . andwhy his wife, Christine, claimshe'd go to work sick even if hehad to carry his head underhis arm.

After all, something mighthave happened while he washome convalescing, and Hanswouldn't be there to record it,photograph it and paste it inhis personal archives.

When Hans retired earlythis year, Levack lost not onlya conscientious, punctilious,safety-minded and loyal em-ployee, they may have alsoended an unofficial record ofthe daily life and happeningsat the mine.

"Iguesslwas born a record-keeper," he said as he pulled apicture from among hundredsand proudly shoved it acrossthe dining room table. Itshowed a young man, shovelin hand, digging muck some-where in the bowels of Levack."You started as a shovellerback then, and shovellermeant just that. You shov-elled muck for eight hours aday. When you went homeafter a day's work, you wereexhausted."

Hans' album covers justabout every stage of his careerat Inco. There are pictures ofHans with a pick and shovel,at the helm of an undergroundtram, with drills, and otherpieces of machinery. "I'vebeen a pipeman, driller,motorman, and on and on. Iguess I've done about every-thing there is to do at a mine."

As well as the hundreds ofphotographs, there are bind-ers of typewritten records thatcontain, among other things,dates, times, and locations atLevack where he's worked.Photocopies of significantitems, such as the first dollarearned, certificates andawards, break up the type.Each page is carefully pro-tected with plastic reportcovers.

around he was going to do.After starting at Levack hedeclared it home.

"I liked it here and that'swhere I was going to stay. Inever moved anywhere elsebut Levack."

He was scared stiff the firsttime down in the mine, but itwas good money and he fig-ured he'd make a go of it.

tucked the camera under hisarm and snuck it under-ground. "Later they relaxedthe regulation, but back thenit wasn't allowed."

His photography shows aunique record of the changesat Levack, and unlike Inco'sofficial record of major events,developments and newproject .and equipment; it

the 1923 fire department. Inthe same book, a second pic-ture taken in 1865 shows hisgreat (he hasn't figured outhow many "greats" shouldprecede) grandfather who wasa farffier at Zanegg.

"A rich farmer, I figure.You know how much it cost tohave a picture taken in thosedays?"

Rich history' His familyhas a history ofprominence,and perhapsHans' penchant

-. : . for recording thefamily recordcomes from thefact that theBrasch familyhas somethingto record.

Many of hisancestors weremayors, judges,firefighters orheld other pub-lic service posi-tions. AlthoughHans' fatherdied on the Rus-sian front in thelast war, hismother contin-ued the traditionof public activ-ism until shedied three yearsago. She waspresident of aprovince-wideconsumers asso-

-' ciation andlooked after wel-

-. -, fare programsand other public concerns.She earned a

:0 record national deco-', ration for her

public service."Mother kept a lot of

records too," said Hans. "I'vegot boxes of them right here. Idon't know what all is in thereyet."

Christine's role seems to beone of patience as her en-grossed husband crawlsthrough mountains of paper,hunts down obscure recordsand spends hours catalogu-ing and recording. "Once hestarts, he doesn't give up," shesaid.

On the other hand,Christine is no passive ob-server when it comes to lustabout everything else. Whenher husband decided to builda house along Highway 144between Chelmsford andDowling, it was Christine whohelped her husband fill in aswamp on the property bycarting tons of rock Hansblasted out for the founda-tion.

"She was my powderman,"said Hans. "We built most ofthe house ourselves, Christineand I. We had some helpfrom friends, but we did mostof it ourselves."

Brasch family record ties intoLevack, and Hans said hedoesn't regret one minute ofit.

"I don't want to lose mypersonal history. Your mindplays tricks, but when I goback and look at the picturesor read about something, itall comes back to me. Thingswere tough back then, butluckily they've changed.Much of the backbreakingwork is gone and manage-ment style has gone from con-frontation to communicationand cooperation. Thinkingback, I guess that's the majorchange that has made thework a lot more worthwhile.Today, you get the feeling thatyou are part of the company,that you are motivated to workrather than yelled at.

"Of course, in those daysjust about everybody shov-elled at the rock face. Todayyou rarely see anyone lifting ashovel."

Ironically, Hans sees theinitial years of backbreakingwork and mean-hearted man-agement as a blessing. "I hadsomething to compare (mod-ern) conditions to," he said."You can appreciate the jobmore that way."

Hans keeps his records notonly for himself, but for hischildren. "They're not into it(family archives) yet. That'sprobabiy because I'm stillaround to do it."

Leaves homeLeaving his native Ger-

many in 1952, Hans got jobsas a dishwasher, logger andconstruction worker inCanada before signing on withInco. It was all the moving

Hans Brasch and wife ChrLtine look over the detailed photof his 39 accident-free yes at Levack.

It was one time thqt his showschangesfromaminer'sfear and archival instincts perspective.came into conflict. Inco wasn't Viewed from a broader per-exactly an easy go back then, spective, the brief Inco yearshe explained, and the man- turn out to be only a tag-alongagement style was basically footnote to a Brasch family

screams and threats followedby blind obedience.

Cameras weren't allowedunderground and Hans facedleaving a chapter of his lifeunrecorded. But he bravedthe wrath of his supervisors,

history that he's traced backto the 16th century.

He'll show you a bookabout his Austrian home townof Zanegg that features a pic-ture of his grandfather amonga score of others in a picture of

Levack lifeThe latest chapter in the

Million memories"I'm happy and satisfied

with my life and that's re-flected in my records," he said."I feel my life is worth remem-bering. Many people measuretheir lives against what otherpeople have. I feel like a mil-lionaire and I don't have amillion dollars.

"I liked my work andLevack has been good to me.The decision to retire wasn'tan easy one. But then, I guessI had to quit sometime."

A certificate, handed toHans by complex managerJon Gill on the retiree's lastday at work, states the affec-tion accumulated over almostfour decades.

"We thank you for the reli-ability and dedication youhave given to your job," thecertificate states. "This hasbeen reflected in your unblem-ished safety record. It is alsonotable that during your en-tire history with us, there is norecord of you ever missing aday's work.

"We wish you and yourwife Christine many years ofhappiness in your retirement."

A second certificate, signedby Levack Complex mainte-nance superintendent RoyLandrye and Levack Minemaintenance general fore-man Doug Koroscil, madeHans an honorary member ofthe Levack Maintenance De-partment for his "work anddedication over and above theduties of a hoistman and op-erator at Levack Mine."

Leavack Complex manager Jon Gill (left) andmaintenance superintendent Roy Landrye flank HansBrasch on his last day on the job. The plaque he'sholding commemorates his contributions to theoperation and his many safety-conscious years.

14 MARCH 1992

Nickel and 'Digms

Sailing into the deepening twilight of the 20th century, our corporate ship isn'texactly hydroplaning. ln today's economy, it takes a good captain just to avoid theicebergs.

Costs are a struggle. Metal prices groan ever downward. LME nickel warehouseslook like winners at a pie-eating contest. Industry profits fail to excite. All in all, it'smighty tough to succeed at the old game.

My economist friend dislikes comparing serious business to a game, and he bristleswhen the people in an industry are called "players". Gosh, he's picky.

Okay - if this isn't a game and we aren't players, how do we describe theconundrum we find ourselves in?

Well, here's a $50 buzzword that may help us figure it out: paradigm.Isn't that special?

Pair-a-What?Paradigm.Pronounce it the way it looks and it brings to mind two dogs after a buried bone.

Not quite.A paradigm (pair-a-dime, if you weren't sure) is basically a pattern. It's a way of

tackling something according to certain rules. It sets limits. If you follow the rules, staywithin the limits and solve the challenge, you win! Just like a game, right?

So, why not just use the easy, old-fashioned word - other than because it upsetsmy friend? Well, have you ever gone to the Legion, even at your thirstiest, for aparadigm of darts? Of course not. A sudden change in the rules could be dangerous.

You see, that's the big difference: with paradigms, losing is not honorable. Youcan't just buy another round, laugh it off and try for the best two out of three.

There are two basic kinds of paradigms: the good and the bad ones - those thatsolve problems and win, and those that do not. Or, look at it another way: old,ineffective paradigms are like ruts. Good ones, old or new, are paths to success.

And there are lots of them - thousands of little paradigms, dealing maybe withthe way we go about baking a cake, using retirement years or re-capping a hoist rope- and huge, extremely difficult ones like recovering from Hurricane Andrew ormarketing our metal products around the world.

Pretty heavy stuff, huh? Well, how do you think this beat up old electrician feels,trying to write about it? Bear with me, dear hearts - and don't skip to the dirty parts.

Old Idea, New NameDid you ever wony about learning something new and then discover that most of

it was just common sense that had already crossed your mind many times?Well, how about this? Our buzzword may be new, but the idea's as old as the hills.

You've seen it in action all your life. Believe it or not, you've likely tried to shift morethan one paradigm in your day.

You've tried every time you've said: "The way we've been doing this just isn't goodenough!"

Just think back.Remember all the things you've had to do just because they've always been done

that way? Remember the problems they said couldn't be solved? And remember theideas you had? Oh yeah, those ideas.

Unless you just arrived last night or have really been keeping your creativity underwraps, ypu've likely been told a time or two to keep your bright ideOs to yourself. Ormaybe to do something more anatomically difficult. If so, you know lot more about

paradigms than you think.Sure, new ideas have been accepted tmd put into practice and you and I know about

lots of them. But the point of all this jabber is that we need more new ideas - a wholelot more.

Quality's Not EnoughOur TQI folks may want to wash out my mouth with scxip, but the quality revolution

is only part of the story. Just doing things "better and better" won't keep us in the lead.Don't get me wrong: it's crudally important and we must do it, but it'll only qualify usto run with the pack. To get ahead, we have to Innovate.

A super-alloy, trlllion-hoofbeat horseshoe might be the finest on earth, but thatmarket has come rather "unglued". Even before we enter the new century, we're goingto have to do newer, better things - things that existing paradigms say are impossible.

We've had to do it before. As you know, during the First World War our industry (andhence our company) was caught up In defence production. But, when hostilities ended,the bottom fell out of our market. As good as nickel-steel armor plate was, no one neededany. So, Robert Crooks Stanley and his people scrapped our old marketing paradigms anddeveloped new ones that helped create peacetime uses for our principal product.

At the end of the Second World War, the problem was ore reserves. To meetantldpated increases in peacetime production new deposits had to be found. But the oldway of doing things, solely on the ground, with teams of geologists and diamond drillers,would be too slow and unpredictable. So, right, they changed the paradigm: enteraeromagnetic exploration. Result? The great Thompson nickel discovery.

So, what's the challenge now?There may still be a few who think it's just a matter of waiting. The recession will end,

demand wifi pick up and one sunny Monday morning we'll wake up and find thateverything Is beautiful again. Just one big, friendly cycle.

My economist friend says no. This time, it's big, structural stuff: The world of nickelproduction and consumption has changed forever, requiring real changes in the way wedo things. It's paradigm time again and we're gearing up to shift a few.

A big-ticket item is the new addition at the J. Roy Gordon Research Lab and thecommitment of more money to research. That arena, boys and girls, is where a lot of ourbets will have to be placed.

But, just because our scientists will continue to be in hot pursuit of new, marketableproducts, that doesn't mean we mortals can't toss In an idea or two.

That's another thing about new paradigms: sometimes the freshest and best ideascome from someone who isn't tangled up in the cobwebs of the olcFone. Besides, we aren'tJust employees dnd pensioners, we're consumers too.

Think about it: worldwide, what've we got- active and retired? Thirty - maybe fortythousand? I don't know off the top of my head, but for sure it's a huge gang of loyal, tuned-in consumers of nickel products. Imagine: if only one in a thousand of them had ahundred-tonne idea for new thlngcunabobs. That's a cool $25 million in extra sales! AndI know that the Inco family is smarter than one-in-a-thousand.

So, what's all this got to do with our heritage?Well, If we didn't keep innovating, in both production and marketing, our heritage

threads would be snipped pretty short. Then what would I write about?

That's one paradigm I'm not anxious to change.

H 1NCOMEideas

Basic groceries do not collide with the GST. Does that mean you can eatGST-free?

Not if you're like most Canadians who eat at restaurants or order take-outfood at least several times a week. And, of course, there are lunches during theweek, snacks during the day and food at the movies or sporting events. All aretaxable.

For the most part, there's not much you can do about it. No matter whatyou order, where you order, or when you order, seven per cent is going toappear at the bottom of your bill. . . most of the time.

GST Tactic

It may take some searching, but look for "small" food vendors. . . hot dogwagons, weekend food stalls at the market, some food sellers at country fairs.Many vendors will sell less than $30,000 of food a year, which means they donot have to be registered to collect the GST. And that means you can eat GST-free.

Exploring the restaurant coupons. . . two-for-one deals, hilf-priced meals• . . usually means cutting your GST way down too. In most cases, GST is paidon your net cost, not the cost before using the coupon.

Take-out food doesn't escape the GST. Neither do delivery charges. How-ever, you can probably lighten your GST burden by picking up your orderinstead of having it dispatched to your door.

To eat is tobe taxed

GST AlertTips or gratuities are not subject to the GST unless they are included in the

price of your meal. If they are, have the gratuity separated on your bill aftercalculations of the GST.

When buying food, try to take advantage of the "pig" rule. This one says thatif you buy lots of certain food items there's no tax, but if you buy just one or two,GST applies.

GST Tactic

If you're buying a few doughnuts or muffins, make sure you buy at least six.Then there's no GST. If you buy only five, be prepared to pay the seven per cent.

Everything bought at a vending machine is taxable. As well, buying a smallcarton of white milk at a lunch counter is taxable but won't be taxed if boughtat the supermarket or corner store.

GST Alert

When buying food not suitable for consumption on the premises, such as abag of coffee beans at the coffee shop, a pound of sliced meat at the luncheon delior a litre of chocolate ripple at the ice cream parlor, make you're not charged GST.

These are basic food items and are exempt.

The Thangle 15

SNO control building officially opened H

I nco has always relied onadvanced technologiesand on strong research

and development programs.That's just one of the rea-

sons why the company is com-mitted to the Sudbury Neu-trino Observatory, said Incavice-chairman WalterCurlook.

"From discovering new usesfor nickel to developing newmethods of mining, from pur-suing new technologies inprocessing and refining toadding further value to ournickel, Inco isa world leader,"said Curlook to media, scien-tists, government representa-tives, educators and other dig-nitaries attending the offIcialopening of the observatory'sOperations Control Buildingat Creighton Mine recently.

The 400-square-foot build-ing, located about 2,000 feetfrom the Creighton Mine ad-ministration building, housesSNO offices, several laborato-ries and a transfer area formaterials and equipment usedin the observatory construc-tion 6,800 feet below ground.

A rail connection with theNo. 2 shaft allows direct un-derground shipments to theobservatory site.

'I'm proud that Inca isplaying a vital role in pio-neering this scientific projectand has been a major sup-porter from the beginning,"said Curlook.

He said the decision to par-tidpote took "serious thought"because of possible interrup-tions and negative impacts onmining operations atCreighton, the Ontario Divi-sion's deepest, oldest and oneof its richest mines.

A strong technology andresearch background isn'tthe only reason for Inco'ssupport, said Curlook. "An-other reason is that weat inco wanted to supportour Canadian universitiesso that they too can be inthe forefront of expanding the

boundaries of knowledge."Helping put Sudbury on the

map was another reason forInco's involvement, he said.

"By sharing our CreightonMine facilities, we are enhanc-ing the changing image ofSudbury itself. Sudbury is morethan just copper/nickel mines.

Sudbury is also an educa-tional, medical, governmentand cultural centre. The SNOproject gives Sudbuiy a promi-nent place in the internationalarena of basic fundamentalscience. Sudbury's place onthe map is getting bigger andbigger."

Inco donated the site andinco miners, engineers andstaff are building the massivelaboratory. The locationpromises to make the Sudburyfacility the best of its kind inthe world. Approximately 1.4miles of rock between the cav-ern and the surface will act asa filter, screening out all butthe most penetrating of suba-tomic particles like the neu-trino.

Inco's contribution wasn'tlost on Minister of State forScience William Winegard."It's really mind-boggling to

consider," he said during thebrief official opening cer-emony following an under-ground tour of the site, "thatthis is all being constructed sofar in the ground, and thenyou have to factor in gettingequipment and materials tothe workers.

"I'm particularly impressedwith Inco's involvement. Theyare as enthusiastic as we are.That bodes well for the fu-ture."

Me said that Canada's roleas a major contributor to sci-entific research isn't the onlyimage that's being enhanced."I was told by a German offi-cial that Canada is leading inthe area of networking andcooperation. There are veryfew things in which we cansay Canada is a world leader.This is one of them."

The $61 million under-ground observatory Is a mul-tinational effort involving sci-entific organizations and re-searchers from Canada, theUnited States and Britain.Funded by a 55-member groupof international scientists andscientific and research organi-zations, the underground ob-

servatory will be nestled in alO-storey high cavern carvedout of solid rock.

Nearing the halfway pointin construction, about a thirdof the 70 by 100 foot rockcavity has already been exca-vated by Inco miners.

Peter Moran, president of

of cooperation," is how JohnGammon of the Ontario Min-istry of Northern Development,and Mines referred to Inca'sinvolvement as well as themany other organizationsthat pooled resources to putthe project on the map.

"lnco workers contributingto the project are proud toplay a small role in this world-class scientific project,"Creighton Complex managerMike Sylvestre told the group."We all fully understandwhat's going on here and whythis project is so important,and we are all working veryhard to do the best job possi-ble."

Also taking part in the cer-emony were NormanSherman of the National Re-search Council, PardeepAhiuwalia of Industry, Scienceand Technology Canada,Ame Sorensen of the North-ern Ontario Heritage Fund,Malcolm Harvey of AtomicEnergy of Canada Limited,and David Hendrie of the U.SDepartment of Energy. SNOInstitute director ArtMcDonald officiated the event.

Also on hand for the cer-emony was Queen's Univer-sity representative GeorgeEwan, a, member of the SNOInstitute Board of Trustees andhead of SNO Sdentists Man-agement Committee; DeiterBuse of Laurentian Universityand Andre Roberge andClarence Virtue of theLaurentian physics depart-ment.

Risto Laamanen, head ofthe Operations Control Build-ing builders Laamanen Con-struction and John FeedeyandRene Godin of the projectmanagement and engineer-ing design firms also attended.

Inco representatives in-cluded vice-president of Min-ing John Kelly and CreightonMine superintendent FredStanford. Representing Local6500 of United Steelworkerswas president Dave Campbell.

the Natural Sciences and En-gineering Research Councilsaid the facility is the onlymajor scientific project inwhich Canada is playing aleading role. "We are not abig country," he said. "It wasimportant that we got our acttogether and did it jointly, inface of every obstacle and bar-rier."

Regional Chairman TomDavies called the project "fan-tastic," adding that it is on thelips of people wherever he'stravelled, from South Americato Spain.

He lauded Inco's partici-pation. "I can just imaginewhat it's like for the mine'ssupervisors, how to fit all thisinto the schedule and meetoperating targets. I don't thinkthat has been properly recog-nized."

'A testament to the power

Stobie is prize for visitorsUniversity student Stella

Karras wasn't intimi-dated at all by the

thought of touring the depthsof Stobie Mine. It was just get-ting there and getting back..

"I heard that the ride in theelevator. . . lift. . . or whateverits called, is shaky and bumpyand that it goes really fast.That bothered me a bit."

Turns out, she said, thatthe ride in the Stobie cagewasn't the spooky experienceshe imagined. "It was great,"she said.

Stobie Mine played host toStella, 23 and student StephenWalkes, 22, winners of an all-expenses paid trip to Sudburyin an Ontario Mining Weekcontest. The Inco visitwas partof a three-day stay in the citythat took them to ScienceNorth, Laurentian University,Falconbridge and other localattractions.

Stella heard mixed mes-sages about Sudbury. "I heardthat it was barren rock, like a

moonscape. But I know some-body from Sudbury and shesaid that it is a beautiful placewith lots of lakes and trees."

Seeing it herself convincedher that the latter is true. 'it isbeautiful," she said.

The underground tour atStobie also left her with a dif-ferent impression than the oneshe imagined.

"The only thing I've everseen on mining was some oldDepression movies about min-ers with black faces. It sur-prised me that the it's so cleandown there. The undergroundgarages are as clean as theones up here. And everythingis so big," she said. "The tun-nels are a lot bigger than Ithought."

Inca also provided lunchfor the visitors at the CopperCliff Club.

Stella is a zoology studentat the University of Torontoand Stephen is a business stu-dent at York University.

Both said the underground

visit was an eye-opening ex-perience. Both will write ashort essay on the trip whichshould be published in theOntario Mining Associationnewsletter.

The two students won thetrip to Sudbury by answeringfive questions on mining at amining exhibition at OntarioPlace this past summer. Theywere randomly chosen from600 students who also an-swered the questions correctly.

Ontario Mining Associa-tion manager of communica-tions Peter McBride, who ac-companied the students, saidthat the visit to Sudbury wasdesigned to let people in south-ern Ontario know that "thenorth extends further thanBarrie," to provide students afirst-hand view of some of theworld's most energy-efficientand productive mineralprocessing plants and to ex-perience some of the culturaland educational facilities inNorthern Onturio.

The Sudhury Neutrino Observatory's 4,000 square-foot Operations Control Buildingis located 2,000 feet from the Creighton Mine administration building.

Ontario Mining Association communications managerPeter McBride with Mining Week contest winnersStephen Walkes and Stella Karras at Stobie Mine.

16 MARCH 1992

Yetodays

9 Years Ago

"North Mine A Unique Research Facility" was the caption in theOctober issue of the Inco Triangle. it announced the planned reopeningof the Copper Cliff North Mine as a full-scale research facility to improveInco's competitiveness in the mining industry.

"I really don't know of any other mine of its kind in North America,"said Claudio Barsotti, manager of Mines Research.

The type of research that was to be done In the mine induded oreremoval, electrification, drifting, ground support, roadways, lightingand blasting.

It was scheduled to be bock in production by January, 1984, with 120employees, and according to Barsotti, producing 2,000 tons of ore perday. That production "will pay its way," he said.

Barsotti claimed the $11,000,000 Investment Inco was putting Intothe mine showed the faith the company had in the Mines Researchdepartment's ability to develop new mine technology that could beapplied throughout the industry.

25 Years Ago

in 1967 the program was expansion. - . expansion. . . and moreexpansion.

In an address to the Quarter Century Club in Sudbury, Henry S.Wingate, chairman and chief executive officer of International Nickel,announced plans for a $50-million Capital investment program todevelop the Copper Cliff South Mine and expand and modernize the IronOre Plant.

Getting down tonew technology

Plans were made to sink a 4,000-foot production shaft and a 2,000-footdevelopment shaft that would eventually become part of the mine'sventilation system.

The mine, just opposite the Copper Refinery in Copper Cliff, wouldproduce 4,000 tons of ore per day.

The expansion and modernization of the Iron Ore Plant would includethe installation of a new master and kiln, an extension of the presentleaching and pellet plant, and other facilities. It would increase produc-tion by 30 per cent over the current annual production of 900,000 longtons.

The multi-million expansion in 1967 and the planned $80-millionexpansion In 1968 would eventually expand Inco's workforce by 1,700new jobs, said the chairman.

40 Years Ago

In October's Issue of the Inco Triangle, one of the leading articles wason the opening of Sudbuzy's new public library on McKenzie Street.

"In an impressively beautiful home of its own on McKenzie Street theSudbury Public Ubrary has settled down to be of broader use to thecommunity," said the article. "Eloquent of the cultural ambition of the cityis this artistically designed building with its spacious rooms and halls, itsrich appointments, its well developed educational services and its provi-sions for future expansion."

Three-and-a-half times the floor space of the old library on CedarStreet, the new library already had 12,000 subscribers to its services andabout 30,000 books on its shelves.

Crean Hill ArtCrean Hill on canvas...

in oils.A difficult assignment, but

budding artist Paul Kovanenclaims painting scenes depict-ing underground mining op-erations at Creun Hill is anassignment he wouldn't havemissed.

"It may seem like there'snot much color down there inthe shaft, but if you knowwhat you are looking for, it'snot all grey. The high contrastis good, it can give you

quite a dramatic effect."A crane operator in a steel

plant and part-time artist,Paul was commissioned by theUnited Steelworkers ofAmerica to paint a group offour paintings dealing withindustry and the environment.Two of the paintings will be ofthe steel-making industry andthe other two of the miningindustry.

He is painting scenes fromthe Stelco operation in Hamil-ton and Algoma in Soult Ste.

Marie. Inco is the only miningoperation h&s pointing.

The Inco assignment takes Ihim into a new field. "It wouldtake about two or three hoursto paint a scene and we didn'twant to hold up underground Iopera tions or get in the way,"said Mr. Kovanen, "so insteadwe decided to take photo-graphs of operations. We tookpictures of the huge jumbodrills and rock bolting."

Working from photo-graphs may present a chal-lenge, he said, but it also hascertain advantages. "You canpick which scene is the mosteffective, and because thereare several photographs of thesame scene, you can combinethe best effects from each. Al-though I like realism, it's stillup to me to be interpretive, toput emphasis where I wantit."

He also took pictures of theCrean Hill headframe.

"I'm not sure what I'll bepainting yet, although thetwo-boom jumbo looked themost impressive through thecamera lens. We'll have towait to see how the picturesturn out."

Although interested andactive in art all his life, Mr.Kovanen has been paintingseriously for only four years.He took formal training latein life and the Steelworkers'commission is the first majorproject he's been on.

"This Is an excellent start,"he said.

Tagging along with Mr.Kovanen on the undergroundtour was his art teacher TonyCooper who said he didn'twant to miss the opportunityto see the Inside of a mine.

Inco for SailInco sponsored one of 16

sailboats in Sail for Hope, anew promotion by the Sud-bury and District Unit of theCanadian Cancer Society tohelp raise funds for patient

services, education needs andresearch. Held on Lake Ram-sey at the Sudhury Yacht Club,the event included an hour ofsailboat cruises, a barbecue,door prizes and swimming.(Above) retired inco mechani-cal specialist Charlie Dobsonand Dennis Shannon sail aboat sponsored by BellCanada. (At left) Fred Millerand daughter Joanne proudlyshow off the Inco flag thatflew on their boat.

MAIL POSTE. p_- I.$Mi ,-

81k Nbri2065Sudbury, Ontario

st,nriip.V r'IJflLIC7' MACK 'I ST5111) JRV, "IT.P. TO.CAN ADr'r 4Y'.

Manager Public Affairs Publications EditorJerry Rogers John Gost

for employees and pensioners of the Ontario Division of IncoUmited. Produced by the Public Affairs Deportment. Membersof the International Association of Business Communicators.

Letters and comments are welcomed and should be addressed tothe editor at lnco Limited, Public Affairs Department, CopperCliff, Ontario POM 1NO. Phone 705-682-5428

Artist Paul Kovanen takes a picture of the Crean Hillheadframe. The photos are for a re-creation on canvas