Portugal’s mining strategy may favour copper over lithium
Portugal already has the largest copper mine in the European Union, operated by Lundin Mining.
Zinc production at Nyrstar’s Budel smelting operations in the Netherlands will resume during the week of May 13, partly because of higher prices for the metal used to galvanize steel, the company owned by commodity trader Trafigura said on Tuesday.
The Budel smelter, with capacity to produce 315,000 metric tons per year, was suspended in the second half of January and will restart at reduced capacity.
“This decision (to restart) follows a thorough and comprehensive review and reflects recent improvements in market conditions and the temporary reinstatement of indirect cost compensation in the Netherlands that will help reduce Nyrstar Budel’s overall energy costs,” the company said.
Benchmark zinc on the London Metal Exchange (LME) hit $2,974 a ton on Tuesday, up 30% since the middle of February and the highest since March 2023.
Budel has been operating on a flexible basis since the fourth quarter of 2021.
“The situation remains under constant review and Nyrstar continues to actively manage production capacity across its European operations to respond to the continued uncertain near-term market conditions,” it added.
(By Pratima Desai; Editing by David Goodman)
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