ONTARIO — Swiss mining giant Xstrata Plc has announced plans to shut down its Kidd Creek copper smelter for eight weeks beginning April 13. A steep decline in demand for sulphuric acid, a byproduct of smelting, was cited as the reason.
Kidd Creek has annual capacity of 135,000 tonnes of copper cathode, but produced only 87,300 tonnes in 2008.
Xstrata said that some smelter employees will required to take their 2009 vacations during the shutdown, and others will be offered opportunities to replace contractors working in other plants at the site.
The Kidd Creek mine and concentrator will continue to operate while the smelter is shut down said the company.
Xstrata is the world's fourth-largest producer of copper. Visit the copper website at www.Xstrata.com/corporate/commodities/copper.
Comments