Inspenet, December 14, 2023.
Boliden plans to resume pay talks next month with around 650 employees at its zinc facility in Tara, Ireland, with the aim of restarting production in the second quarter of 2024.
The largest zinc mine in Europe
The company opted to pause its operations at Tara in June due to negative cash flows after zinc prices hit a three-year low on June 1, 2023. The resumption of operations could increase supply of the world’s fourth most used metal and could contribute to the refined zinc surpluses forecast by analysts for next year.
It should be noted that the Tara mine, which generated 198,000 tons of zinc concentrates in 2022, is the largest zinc mine in Europe .
” We must address the operational challenges at Tara Mines ,” Boliden spokesman Klas Nilsson told Reuters in an email.
Likewise, Nilsson stated that Boliden intends to present the plan to the unions in January and will seek to reach an agreement with them.
” If we can reach an agreement by the first week of February, our ambition is to reopen the mine in the second quarter of 2024, assuming there is no significant deterioration in market conditions .”
Zinc concentrates from Tara are mainly used as input for Boliden’s zinc smelter in Odda, southern Norway. The company intends to increase its production capacity at Odda from 200,000 tonnes to 350,000 tonnes in the second half of next year, the spokesperson said.
” We will begin production at the new facility during the second half of 2024; however, we have not communicated the pace of the production ramp and of course there will be a production ramp period, ” Nilsson said.
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Source: worldenergytrade.com
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