BY KEITH LACEY
It’s been quite the wild ride for Mark Cutifani, a transplanted Australian who has made a remarkable impact since coming to Sudbury to work for Inco Ltd. just over three years ago.
After an incredible year where numerous corporate giants made bids to take over the world’s second-largest nickel producer, Cutifani stayed calm, cool and collected.
Brazil’s Companhe Vale de Rio Dimanche (CVRD) won the sweepstakes to take control of Inco late in 2006, and Cutifani was quickly named Chief Operating Officer (COO).
The former president of Inco’s North American/European operations rounded out a remarkable year by being honoured with the Paul Harris Fellowship by the Rotary Club of Sudbury.
Cutifani was front and centre when Arizona’s Phelps Dodge, one of the world’s largest copper producers, made a bid to take control of Inco and its longtime arch rival Falconbridge Ltd.
“We’ve never wavered from our commitment to make the Inco-Falconbridge deal happen,” said Cutifani in late summer. “Phelps Dodge entered the picture and were the only company who shared that same vision.”
When that deal fell through and CVRD entered the picture, Cutifani assured local leaders it would be “business as usual” as Sudbury had one of the most impressive nickel reserves in the world.
When CVRD boss Roger Angelli visited Sudbury soon after the deal closed, it was Cutifani who led him on an extended tour of local operations and put him in touch with the power brokers at city hall and within the federal and provincial governments.
While some experts have suggested Greater Sudbury’s burgeoning mining service and supply industry might suffer under foreign ownership, Cutifani insisted that as long as Northern Ontario companies are price competitive, he will personally ensure CVRD-Inco will continue to use their products, services and expertise.
“From my point of view, if you are competitive...you will get the business because you are local,” he said.
