Фалконбридж: Тарихы мен металлургиялық жетістіктері

Falconbridge Limited was a Toronto, Ontario based natural resources company with operations in 18 countries, involved in the exploration, mining, processing, and marketing of metal and mineral products, including nickel, copper, cobalt, and platinum. It was listed on the TSX (under the symbol FAL. LV) and NYSE (FAL), and had revenue of US$6.9 billion in 2005. In August 2006, it was absorbed by Swiss based mining company Xstrata, which had formerly been a major shareholder. Falconbridge, named after the town Falconbridge, which in turn was named for a prominent "son", one Sir William Glenholme Falconbridge, High Court Judge whose father John Kennedy Falconbridge, had migrated to Ontario from Lisburn Ireland. Falconbridge was an important player in the economic and commercial development of the northern region of Ontario Canada, particularly the communities in and around Sudbury.

In 1928, an experienced prospector and businessman Thayer Lindsley purchased mining claims containing rich deposits of nickel copper ore in the area northeast of Sudbury. These claims had been established as early as 1901, when Thomas Edison made the original discovery of the Falconbridge ore body, but remained undeveloped until Lindsley's purchase. Soon thereafter, planning and construction of a company town began, to house and service workers for the future mines. The community, complete with utilities and a medical centre, was named Falconbridge after the geographic township in which it was located. Likewise, the company became known as Falconbridge Nickel Mines Limited. Just one year later in 1929, the new company acquired the Kristiansand Nikkelraffineringsverk A/S refinery in Kristiansand, Norway. This expanded its operations, but more importantly the company also gained the rights to the Hybinette nickel refining process. The operations at the Falconbridge site expanded in the early 1930s. By 1930 ore from an underground mine was being extracted at 250 tonnes per day, and a nearby smelter was in operation to process the material. In 1932, a mill and sintering facility began operation. Through the 1950s and 1960s, significant expansion of the Sudbury Basin operations took place, including some twelve new mines. All recovered nickel, copper, and smaller amounts of other materials including platinides. Meanwhile, the Nikkelverk operation began recovering cobalt alongside previous extractions in 1952, using a new refining process. In 1962, Falconbridge acquired Ventures Limited, including its numerous international operations and geological exploration infrastructure, allowing further expansion and growth outside of Canada. In 1971 the Falconbridge Dominicana (Falcondo) mine and process plant commenced operation in Bonao, Dominican Republic. The site employed a novel reduction and smelting technique superior to the kiln process. To aid in community development, the Falcondo Foundation was established in 1989 and has been a pioneer in Natural Resource Corporate Social Responsibility. In 1977, Falconbridge patented the chlorine leach nickel refining process that had been developed in house. The late 1970s saw the company play a role, alongside Inco, in the environmental reclamation efforts undertaken in the Sudbury region. As part of this, a new, more efficient smelter was opened, as well as a facility for the production of sulfuric acid. This commercially saleable chemical had been a source of significant ecological damage when it was produced in the atmosphere by the reaction of sulfur dioxide emissions. The new acid plant allowed this effect to be greatly reduced by catalyzing the reaction before emission, while producing additional revenue from the sale of the acid. By 1984, the commercial reserves at the original Falconbridge Mine had been exhausted. Production continued at several other sites in the Sudbury area. The company expanded within northern Ontario by acquiring the Kidd Mine and Kidd Metallurgical Site (Met Site) in Timmins, Ontario. Expansion continued in the 1990s, with a new mine in Sudbury, and one at Raglan in northern Quebec, though Falconbridge lost the bidding war with Inco for the deposit at Voisey's Bay. The two companies were set upon by hostile takeover bids from rival firms. Swiss Xstrata, already 19.9% owner of Falconbridge, bid for a complete acquisition, while Teck Cominco of Vancouver set its sights on Inco. Falconbridge became Xstrata Nickel, which continued to be based in Toronto. On 2 May 2013 Glencore completed the merger with Xstrata.

Falconbridge lent its name to a company town northeast of Sudbury which grew to be a community in its own right. The town of Falconbridge was incorporated by the provincial government in 1957. It was organized along with several other communities into the Town of Nickel Centre and Regional Municipality of Sudbury in 1973; the regional municipality was in turn amalgamated into today's city of Greater Sudbury in 2001. Some Falconbridge workers also lived in the nearby community of Happy Valley, which was abandoned in the 1960s due to pollution from the Falconbridge smelter. "Falco", as it was often called by Sudbury residents, remained for decades the second largest employer in the Sudbury area, exceeded only by rival mining giant Inco. The economic fortune of the city was tied to those of the mining companies, as a strike at either company had a major effect on the livelihood of thousands of workers. The effect diminished as economic diversification progressed in the 1980s and 1990s. Citizens, particularly workers and their families, came to develop an attachment to what were seen as local companies with significant size and influence in the mining industry. In particular, a certain degree of rivalry between workers at the two mining giants, who were members of rival labour unions, developed. In the 1950s and early 1960s, factional wars between the competing unions sometimes led to riots in the streets of Sudbury. A proposal to merge Inco and Falconbridge in 2006 was headed with the slogan "Two proud histories, one great future", in reference to the strong identities which workers and the community had attached to the companies. A major street in Sudbury is named Falconbridge Road, after the company and community. In 2007, Xstrata donated Falconbridge's historic Edison Building, its onetime head office, to the city of Greater Sudbury to serve as the new home of the city archives.