Even with copper hitting per-pound prices not seen since 1997, North American mining and smelting companies are still trying to recover from the lean years of earlier this decade.
At Noranda Inc., Toronto, the company’s copper division has reported operating income of $35 million in the most recently completed quarter, compared to just $11 million in the comparable period of 2002.
Another operating unit it calls its Canadian Copper and Recycling (CCR) business recorded an operating loss of $12 million in the quarter, which ended Sept. 30, 2003.
The results reflect the impact of the 13-week shutdown of the zinc metallurgical operations and maintenance shutdowns at the Kidd Creek, Ontario, copper smelter and refining operations as well as the province-wide power outage in August.
Production from the Horne, Quebec, smelter and CCR refinery were also affected by the return to work ramp-up following a labor strike.
"Over the next nine months, the smelter will focus on processing an increased volume of higher-margin recycle material and scaling back the volume of the lower-margin, off-shore primary concentrate," the company says.
Included in the CCR segment are three electronics recycling plants that yield scrap metals and circuit boards, including one just opened in suburban Toronto.
Grupo Mexico SA has named former vice president of finance and CFO Daniel Tellechea as president of the company’s U.S. unit, Asarco Inc.
Asarco was among the producers who drastically cut production during the leaner years of earlier this decade.
In late 2002, the company slashed production at its Mission mining complex in southern Arizona to 22,000 metric tons per year annually.
That decision reduced output by about 33 percent at its Hayden, Ariz., copper smelter and 13 percent at its Amarillo, Texas, refinery. Labor-management difficulties factored into the decision after Asarco’s union workers rejected the company’s proposal to temporarily cut wages 15 percent to save the company money.
Things could be looking up, as Asarco is a minority owner in copper miner Montana Resources Inc., which has rehired mining staff after a three-year shut-down at its Butte, Mont., 50,000 tons per year copper mine, which closed in 2000 after the energy price spike.
And at Phelps-Dodge Corp., Phoenix, circumstances are clearly better, as the company’s stock price hit a four-and-a-half-year high in December of 2003. Investors are pleased about copper’s price run-up as well as the lack of troubles (such as strikes, civil unrest or natural disasters) at Phelps-Dodge facilities, which are located in the U.S. and South America.