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20+ years ago I saw the "slag pour" in Sudbury, Ontario. This is molten rock leftover from processing metal out of ore being just dumped down a hillside from special train cars. At night it's really cool:

slag pour (from http://www.mysudburyphoto.com/slag-pouring/inco-pouring-slag-PL356.php)

I found YouTube videos from as recently as 2005, yet Wiki travel claims it stopped in the 90s. Who's right? I have a family member going to Sudbury in a few weeks, and if they could safely and legally see a slag pour, I would love to make that possible.

Using an aerial view on Bing maps, I can see what is clearly a train track with slag billows from it, near Road 55 which is mentioned in the articles saying you can't see it any more. I can't seem to see where it happens now. They used to dump a train full (12 cars) every hour, and I doubt that has reduced much, so it must be happening somewhere, right?

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I see you've edited. Like I said in my answer, it does still appear to be happening just (from that article) "off to the right" of the view (whatever direction that is :/). And certainly you can fly over it. I guess it's just less visible now from public land :/ – Mark Mayo Feb 1 at 20:39
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hm, the view is from the north on road 55, so to the right would be west. I wonder if the combination of the aerial map view and the shots from the article would be educational? – Kate Gregory Feb 1 at 20:46

1 Answer

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As you've noted, Wikivoyage says:

This was a highly popular draw all the way up until the 1990s, when the mining company no longer publicized the location of the slag dumps. It is now impossible to view a slag dump from a public spot due to a green reclamation of the slag hills, and it is considered foolish and dangerous to try and trespass onto the grounds.

Indeed, according to a geocaching site that used to go to the public spot best suited for viewing this, the actual pouring has moved as part of re-greening efforts.

However, the slag pours are still happening, and as some have shown as recently as September, it's possible to fly over the slag pours for a photo.

Some mentions on the net appear about business tours, but evidently the company no longer gives tours.

However, you could try contacting them directly and see if there's any chance - via the official site.

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