The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor HudBay Minerals has no plans to boost its processing capacity in Flin Flon even as it prepares to open one of the most promising mines in Manitoba history. HudBay CEO David Garofalo said Tuesday he doubts the zinc produced from the Lalor Mine will warrant an expansion of the company's zinc plant. "We're going to have a surplus of zinc concentrates when Lalor's up and running," he told the Chamber of Commerce as guest speaker. "But right now, I'm not sure there's a case for expanding the zinc refinery because once we're through the zinc ore in Lalor, we're into very heavy copper-gold. So the zinc production actually diminishes over time." 'Temporary' Garofalo called the projected surplus of zinc "kind of a temporary phenomenon." "So we might tough it [out] for a few years of having to place that surplus zinc [concentrate], because I don't think we could sustain the expanded capacity [at the plant]," he said. Garofalo stressed the importance of the zinc plant, however, calling it "a tremendous competitive advantage." The CEO further quashed any notion of the company returning to the copper smelting business. "The custom-smelting business is a very, very tough business," he said. "It's very low margin. It requires a huge capital investment up front. I think we'll create a lot more value in the ground, focusing on mining. So rebuilding the copper smelter is just not in the cards for us."
