Boliden plans to cut output and jobs at Tara zinc mine

Swedish miner Boliden’s plans to shrink operations and reduce targeted output at its Tara zinc mine in Ireland when it restarts this year, a source close to the matter told Reuters.

The mine was put on care and maintenance in June after prices of the galvanizing metal hit a three-year low and Boliden has begun talks with staff over a planned resumption in the second quarter of this year.

Tara is Europe’s largest zinc mine and among the biggest globally, producing more than 300,000 metric tons of zinc concentrate a year at its peak, Boliden’s website says.

The restart plan, however, proposes a one-week closure for the mill every three weeks, 150 job losses and a production target of 180,000 tons of zinc concentrates a year, down from 198,000 tons last year, the source said.

Talks are continuing and the mine could restart in the second quarter at the earliest if agreement is reached, Boliden spokesman Klas Nilsson said, adding that external market conditions have not changed significantly since the mine entered care and maintenance.

Zinc prices are about 25% lower than a year ago and the concensus forecast in a Reuters poll of analysts this week projected a zinc market surplus of 300,000 tonnes in 2024.

Trafigura-owned Nyrstar halted two US zinc mines late last year because of weak prices and inflation and this month closed the Budel zinc smelter in the Netherlands.

(By Julian Luk; Editing by David Goodman)