London 07/09/2015 - Glencore said that possible mine suspensions at subsidiaries Katanga Mining and Mopani Copper Mines will remove around 400,000 tonnes of copper cathode from the market, the giant mining and trading firm said on Monday.
Katanga Mining has commenced a business review which includes possibly suspending copper and cobalt production for up to 18 months until the completion of its whole ore leach (WOL) project.
The Toronto Stock Exchange-listed Katanga is reviewing its business in light of the challenging environment for commodities and was analysing various alternative scenarios the suspension. Its WOL project is currently on schedule to be completed by the end of the first half of 2017.
Mopani in Zambia has also commenced a similar review whereby it plans to upgrade shafts and concentrators at its mine, said Glencore
The expansionary and upgrade programs will provide a material reduction in overall operating costs at both operations. Once complete, the programs are expected to reduce its C1 (net direct cash) costs at Katanga and Mopani to around $1.65/lb and around $1.70/lb respectively from more than around $2.50/lb today. Glencore will continue to fund the expansionary and upgrade projects at both operations.
Katanga Mining had said in May this year that its board had approved capital expenditure of $437 million for the upgrading of the company’s production process to enable whole ore leaching.
The new process will improve recoveries on copper oxide, reduce unit costs and increase the life of mine, it said.
Both Katanga and Mopani are majority owned by Glencore.
(Editing by Kathleen Retourne)