Vale SA has resumed production at its Thompson mine and refinery in Manitoba, Canada after maintenance as world nickel prices declined because of slackening demand. The plant is now up and running after a one-month stop for the scheduled work. Output at Vale’s two other Canadian nickel mines, at Sudbury and Voisey’s Bay, remains halted because of a strike. Vale stopped operations at Thompson on 1 August 2009, the same day a strike halted its Voisey’s Bay nickel plant in Newfoundland. Output at Sudbury, Vale’s largest Canadian mine in Ontario, stopped on 13 July after a company proposal on benefits was rejected by unionized workers. There are no new talks scheduled.