Boliden closing in on deal for Lundin’s European mines
A deal would cement Boliden’s position as one of Europe’s biggest producers of zinc.
Boliden has partially resumed production at its Ronnskar smelter after output was halted following a fire at the facility in mid-June, the Swedish miner said on Friday.
Due to the fire, it has been necessary to start redundancy consultations with 190 people, Boliden said in a statement.
The company added that it expected all production lines at Ronnskar except the electrolytic refinery, which was destroyed in the fire, to be ready for production in July.
Still, the redundancy consultations include positions outside the electrolytic refinery that burned, as other production lines may be closed or operate at limited capacity, Boliden said.
Copper production will take place in the form of anodes instead of cathodes until further notice, Boliden said, adding that this will affect its commercial business model.
In addition to a write down of 88 million Swedish crowns ($8.09 million) for the destruction of the refinery, Boliden has reserved 75 million crowns to cover the demolition, cleaning and restoration of the fire-damaged area, it said.
Lost production and cancelled outbound deliveries will affect the company’s operating profit (EBIT) for the second quarter with a loss of about 200 million crowns, part of an already communicated hit of 700 million, Boliden said on Friday.
($1 = 10.8816 Swedish crowns)
(By Louise Breusch Rasmussen; Editing by Anna Ringstrom and Terje Solsvik)
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