Vale SA has stopped output at its Thompson nickel mine and processing plant on 1 August 2009 for scheduled maintenance, bringing its entire Canadian nickel operations to a halt. The one month maintenance stop at Thompson started the same day that a strike halted production at the company’s Voisey Bay nickel plant in Newfoundland. Workers at Sudbury, Vale’s nickel operation in Ontario, have been on strike since 13 July 2009.