Vale to dismantle iconic Sudbury Superstack by early 2030s

The skyline in northern Ontario's largest cityshould look quite different by the early 2030s.

Vale Base Metals says it will start dismantling its iconic Sudbury Superstackshortly after it dismantles a smaller smokestack, called the Copperstack, in 2025.

The mining giant says it expects it will take around five years to dismantle the Superstack.

Taking apartthe 381-metre structure, which is the tallest chimney in Canada and the Western Hemisphere, is the final step of the company's $1-billion Clean Atmospheric Emissions Reduction (Clean AER) project.

Through upgrades at its Sudbury operations, Vale says it has eliminated 100,000 metric tonnes of sulfur dioxide emissions per year.

Those upgrades eliminated the need for the Superstack, which was designed to spread emissions from the Copper Cliff smelter over a large area.

The Superstack has been inactive since 2020.

"The Superstack and Copperstack have been iconic landmarks in Greater Sudbury for decades," said Gord Gilpin, director of Ontario operations for Vale Base Metals, in a news release.

"While we appreciate that the city's landscape will look different after these structures are dismantled, our business has evolved and improved over time and this project is part of that evolution. We are modernizing our facilities and reducing our environmental footprint and, in so doing, laying the groundwork to ensure that our next century of mining in Sudbury is as successful as our first 100 years."

Vale says it's looking for public submissions for some sort of commemoration for the Superstack, including a mural, monument or digital archive.