MMG shuts Australia zinc pipe, mining to continue
Posted by Reuters News on 05 October 2009, 09:44 AM
communities.thomsonreuters.com
* Pipe fault spills zinc slurry
* Mining to continue, stockpiles to meet customer needs
* No force majeure declaration
SYDNEY, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Chinese-owned Minerals and Metals Group (MMG) has shut down a pipeline that transports zinc concentrate from its Australian Century mine to a port following a spill, it said on Monday.
Operations at a processing plant will be shut down during the clean up and repair period, but mining operations will continue, with ore stored on site, MMG said in a statement.
"MMG will continue to meet its customers' requirements through this period with concentrates currently stored at the Karumba port facility," it said.
"We are currently working to determine the amount of zinc slurry, made up of zinc concentrates and water, that was discharged during the incident."
The company said it is working to assess the length of time required to clean up the spill and repair the fault.
"We have no intention of declaring force majeure, that will not be necessary. We have adequate stockpiles of concentrate to meet customer requirements," said MMG spokeswoman Sally Cox. She could not say how long the pipeline would be shut down.
The Century mine in northeastern Australia's Queensland state is the world's second largest zinc mine, but is scheduled to run dry around 2014.
It produces about 500,000 tonnes of zinc from concentrate annually, much of which is shipped to European smelters. The mine's low iron-bearing content is necessary for European smelters to meet strict environmental regulations.
Global zinc prices have risen by more than 50 percent this year, helped by strength across industrial metals, producer cutbacks and Chinese buying.
MMG, owned by China's Minmetals, bought the Century operation from Australia's OZ Minerals earlier this year.
(Reporting by Jonathan Standing and James Regan; Editing by Michael Urquhart) |
