Vale regretfully informs that an individual working for an external contractor at the Fluid Bed Roaster Baghouse of Vale’s Matte Processing facility in Copper Cliff passed away onsite today.

The cause of death is unknown at this time.

The name of the employee is being withheld out of respect for the family. Vale has offered the services of its Critical Incident Stress Management Team to the employees and contractors that were working in the area, as well as the Vale employees that responded to the scene.

“Our thoughts are with the family, co-workers and friends of this individual,” said Dino Otranto, Chief Operating Officer of Vale’s North Atlantic Operations. “We are doing everything we can to support them and to better understand what happened during this incident.”

The incident investigation is being led by Greater Sudbury Police Services, the Ontario Ministry of Labour, representatives of Vale and the contracted companies involved.