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Welcome To The Inspiration Mining HUB On AGORACOM
The company is exploring for nickel deposits on its Langmuir property near Timmins, Ontario; for nickel-gold-copper on its Cleaver and Douglas properties; and for molybdenum and rare earth elements at recently acquired Desrosiers property.
Message: Xstrata news
Tantallon, now I have to go look. Buxom thanks for the article as well
http://www.google.com/hostednews/can...
Xstrata to shut down Kidd Creek, Ont., smelter for eight weeks
4 hours ago
TORONTO — Xstrata will shut down its Kidd Creek copper smelter in northern Ontario for eight weeks because of falling demand for sulphuric acid, a byproduct of the smelting process.
Xstrata Nickel has 175 employees at the smelter but says it is trying to minimize the number of layoffs by assigning them to other jobs within the facility or by encouraging them to take vacation time.
"Our focus throughout the planning of this shutdown was to minimize the impact on our employees and on the community," said Xstrata spokesman Louis-Philippe Gariepy.
"In an ideal world, there won't be any layoffs."
The miner and metal producer, formerly called Falconbridge before it was acquired by European mining company Xstrata PLC, says the Kidd Creek copper smelter will be shut down starting April 13.
Xstrata laid off 686 salaried and unionized employees at its nickel mine in Sudbury, Ont., in February.
Sulphuric acid is a byproduct of copper smelting that is used in car batteries, ore processing, fertilizer manufacturing, oil refining and many other industrial applications but demand has fallen as since the global economy went into recession.
Noranda Income Fund (TSX:NIF.UN) said in February it would reduce production of sulphuric acid and zinc by approximately 20 per cent due to a lack of storage capacity.
Noranda said at that time that Xstrata Canada Corp., which acts as its sales agent, was unable to arrange for enough temporary storage for the acid produced at the zinc smelter.
In March, Noranda temporarily cut 45 jobs or 10 per cent of its hourly workers at the zinc smelter in Valleyfield, Que., for an indefinite period.
Copyright © 2009 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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http://www.timminspress.com/ArticleD...
The shutdown will affect employees working in the copper smelter, whereas the site's concentrator and zinc operations will continue to operate. Thompson Hickey, general manager at the site, said the company experienced a "significant drop" in sulphuric acid sales since January, due to a lack of demand. "An ongoing negative outlook on sales requires that we adjust our operating plans to further reduce our acid production to meet this current reality," Hickey said in a press release. "This situation is beyond our control and we will make all possible efforts to mitigate potential impacts on our 175 employees working at the copper operation." During the shutdown some employees will be forced to take their 2009 vacations in accordance with the collective agreement, Hickey said. "In addition, many will be offered opportunities to replace contractors working in the other plants at the site," he said. Canadian Auto Workers Local 599 interim bargaining committee chairman Ben Lefebvre said because Xstrata has been forced to shut down in the past, the union and company have worked out some of the bugs. "The company continues to work with us to mitigate any of the negative impacts our employees will feel," he said. Lefebvre said the membership isn't happy, especially because this isn't a great time to use vacation. "Then there's the question of who stays and who goes (on vacation)," he said. "No one will be laid off or at least that's what we've been told. The goal is to handle it so no one gets laid off."He explained workers will take vacations for differing lengths depending on seniority. "The expectation is everyone in the copper operations will be affected one way or another in terms of taking vacation, the rest of the time they'll be working." Lefebvre said because of a lack of demand for sulphuric acid the company can't promise the shutdown won't last longer. "Everything is subject to change if it goes beyond eight weeks," Lefebvre said. Hickey said Xstrata doesn't expect the shutdown to last any longer and "we look forward to returning to normal production levels."
Xstrata shutdown impacts 175
Posted By BRANDON WALKER, THE DAILY PRESS
Posted 5 days ago
About 175 workers at Xstrata Copper's Kidd Creek Metallurgical Site will be affected by an eight-week shutdown starting April 13 because of weak demand for sulphuric acid.
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