At the Thompson Mine zones of wide and high-grade mineralization are spatially correlated with dilation zones within multiple faulted/drag folded flatter lying stratigraphic sequences within P2. The ore occurs as distinct semi-massive sulphide breccias within these faulted zones as:

* Semi-conformable en echelon and anastamosing sub-vertical vein sets; and
* Flatter lying veins that have infilled dilatant drag folds.

These dilation zones occur at all types of scales, from true widths exceeding 300 feet (100 m) to microscopic scale. Massive sulphide occur locally and less frequently at varying orientations within tension gashes.

Late brittle structures do occur at Thompson Mine but are usually narrow and have limited strike length. Although they can have a negative affect on local ground conditions, they rarely affect the ore zone geometry. The exception is the large brittle 1D fault system that is locally referred to as the Davy’s Fault. It is prevalent within the Pipe formation in the 1D upper and portions of the 1D lower orebodies. In general, the fault crosses the ore zone at a very shallow angle from the south west or in several locations parallels the ore. Depending upon orientation and host rock type the fault can range from a vuggy quartz – carbonate breccia zone up to 100 ft (30 m) across down to graphitic shear zones on scale of a few millimetres. The fault zone affects the local rockmass stability and necessitates use of seve ........

Vale Canada Limited manages the Thompson Mine, consisting of two interconnected underground nickel mines, T1 and T3, and a mill located at 1 Inco Road in Thompson, Manitoba. The mine operates by extracting nickel and copper ores from a sulphide ore zone using a combination of bulk mining, cut-and-fill mining, and specialized methods. The ore is crushed underground and transported to the surface through the T1 shaft. Additionally, sand and/or tailings from the mill are mixed with cement and pumped underground for backfilling purposes.

Mining methods primarily use Vertical Block Mining (VBM), a Slot-Slash Method, with vertical blocks averaging 100 ft in height, and Cut and Fill mining. The ore is crushed underground to -15 cm and shipped to the concentrator.

In June 2021, Vale approved a US$123 million investment for the execution of the Thompson Phase 1 Project, which will extend current mining activities in Thompson, Manitoba for 10 years. The Thompson Mine Extension is a two-phase project and includes the construction of critical infrastructure, such as new ventilation raises and fans, increased backfill capacity and additional power distribution. The start-up of the project is expected by 2023, replacing capacity at a rate of 20 ktpy of nickel.

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