There will be a new boss for Vale’s North Atlantic division, which includes Thompson, come January first.

Alistair Ross, who has been in charge of the newly-formed division, will be stepping down at the end of the year when his contract expires, while Mike McCann will be taking his place.

McCann has been with Vale in Sudbury for the past six years, and according to a memo from Vale, he has quote done a superb job leading processing operations across the North Atlantic and Asia, while delivering value projects and achieving production and safety improvements in a number of areas.

The Brazilian mining giant also announced that Gary Annett, who has been in Thompson in a temporary management position, will be replaced sometime next year.