2023-10-18 05:02:19
(Alliance News) – Swiss commodities company Glencore PLC said on Wednesday it would close one of Australia’s largest copper mines, which is reaching the end of its life after 60 years of operation.
Glencore has told 1,200 workers at the Mount Isa underground copper mine in northwest Queensland that production will cease in the second half of 2025 as operations are no longer viable, the company said in a statement .
“We know this decision will be disappointing for our staff, our suppliers and the Mount Isa community,” Sam Strohmayr, chief operating officer of Glencore’s zinc assets in Australia, said in the statement.
“The reality of mining is that mines have a beginning, a middle and an end. And unfortunately, after 60 years of mining, Mount Isa’s underground copper operations have now reached that end.”
Mount Isa Mines is one of Australia’s largest copper producers and a major employer in the Outback town of the same name, which has a population of more than 22,000.
The Australian Workers Union has called on Glencore to find new opportunities for local workers and on the Queensland state government to speed up approval of new mines in the region.
Glencore said its other metal assets at Mount Isa would continue to operate, including a copper smelter, a zinc and lead concentrator and a lead smelter.
source: AFP
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