Kelly Strong and Brazilian miner Vale are parting company as of May 1.
The company issued a short statement this afternoon that Strong, the company's Sudbury-based vice-president of its Ontario and UK operations, would be pursuing "another opportunity."
"After almost 14 years with our operations, Kelly has made substantial contributions in the areas of operations, employee engagement and safety and we wish him all the best," the company statement read.
Conor Spollen, director of Canada and UK operations and projects, takes over Strong's responsibilities until a permanent replacement is chosen.
Strong joined Inco in 2001 – it became Vale in 2005 – where he has held a number of management roles, including mine manager, general manager mine and mill, vice-president of production services and vice-president of mining and milling, before being named the company's vice-president of Ontario and UK operations.
He graduated from the Haileybury School of Mines with a mining engineering diploma, and earned his mining engineering degree from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.
Prior to joining Vale he worked as a chief mine engineer and a mine captain in Red Lake gold camp.
Strong will step down in the midst of Vale's labour negotiations with United Steelworkers Local 6500.
The union's five-year collective bargaining agreement with Vale will expire at midnight on May 31, 2015.
The last round of collective bargaining between Vale and the union resulted in a year-long strike that started July 13, 2009, and ended July 8, 2010.
In December 2014, Strong held a joint press conference with United Steelworkers Local 6500 president Rick Bertrand in a symbolic attempt to hint at more collaboration at the bargaining table, after a bitter strike from the last go-around.
When asked about the perception of how Vale's head office in Brazil dictated the terms of negotiations in 2009, Strong said the company's goal was for the local office to handle the negotiations in 2015.
“The idea is to keep things local here in Sudbury,” he said.
Strong is originally from Espanola.
