Hudbay operations have moved forward – just not in Flin Flon.
Activity elsewhere in northern Manitoba, in Arizona and in South America made up the bulk of the company’s activities, with little new information released to the public about the fate of Hudbay’s Flin Flon operations, including 777.
The expected lifespan for 777 was extended by the company from late 2021 to the second quarter of 2022, as late as June. The zinc plant and tailings facilities, under the most recent information released by the company, will be placed on “care and maintenance” following the end of operations.
Plans for Hudbay’s operations in Manitoba have centred around Snow Lake, with the company touting its new 1901 project near the former Chisel North mine site and upgrades, throughput increases and a new mine plan at for Lalor.
The company’s largest project, the Rosemont open pit copper mine, was stopped in its tracks earlier this year following a decision by the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona revoking permission for mining on the site. Hudbay is appealing the decision, but as of December had not received a final decision on the project. The company values Rosemont at about $2 billion, stating the project could produce 100,000 tonnes of copper concentrate for each of the next 20 years.
Protests in Peru this past August after a controversial mine deal led to the blockade of a port in Peru used by Hudbay to ship copper concentrate from its Constancia project. The protests lifted after a few weeks, allowing Hudbay and other companies with mining operations in Peru to ship out materials.
Early in the year, one of Hudbay’s largest investors, Waterton Global Resource Management, named its own slate of nominees for Hudbay’s corporate board and CEO positions. Later, Wateron filed suit against Hudbay in an Ontario court. Following a short legal battle, some of Waterton’s nominees were named to the Hudbay board, with Waterton nominee Peter Kukielski being named interim CEO after previous leader Alan Hair stepped down in July.
