Noranda pumps cash into Quebec copper and zinc projects

Base metal miner Noranda (NOR-T) plans to invest a total of $212 million in five capital projects in Quebec.

The company’s copper operations will receive $142 million, while $70 million will be spent at its zinc facilities.

In Montreal, Noranda will spend $124 million to update its

360,000-tonne-per-year CCR refinery with cathode technology. Another $18 million will be used to build a third converter at the Gasp Mines copper smelter in Murdochville. The addition of the converter will boost copper anode production there by 16,000 tonnes to 350,000 tonnes per year.

Noranda’s Canadian Electrolytic Zinc refinery in Valleyfield will receive $61 million, half of which will be used to improve the hydrometallurgical process. The remainder will be used to dispose of and treat production waste.

Annual production at the refinery is expected to rise to 250,000 tonnes as a result of the investment.

The remaining $9 million will be used to reopen the Gallen mine in Rouyn-Noranda. During a projected 18 months of operation, the open-pit mine is expected to produce 82,000 tonnes of zinc concentrate for the Horne smelter.

For the quarter ended Sept. 30, Noranda reported earnings of $51 million on revenue of $2.2 billion, compared with $128 million on $2.5 billion for the same period last year. The company attributes the lower earnings to slumps in the prices of copper, aluminum and nickel, as well as to lower production volumes from some of its operations.

For the nine months ended Sept. 30, Noranda reported earnings of $218 million on revenue of $7 billion, compared with $413 million on $7.5 billion a year earlier.