By Rhiannon Hoyle
Swiss commodities giant Glencore said it will close the Mount Isa Mines underground copper operations and copper concentrator in Australia in the second half of 2025.
“Glencore has conducted a range of studies and reviews seeking to further extend the life of the underground copper mines, but unfortunately it has not been possible, and they have reached the end of mine life,” the company said in a statement on Wednesday.
The underground copper operations have been running for roughly six decades. The mines, concentrator and supporting services employ about 1,200 people, Glencore said.
The company’s Lady Loretta zinc mine, roughly 90 miles northwest of Mount Isa, will also close in 2025, it said. That mine had “a finite orebody with a seven-year mine life,” said the company.
Glencore said Mount Isa Mines’s other businesses including a copper smelter, zinc-lead concentrator, lead smelter and the George Fisher mine in Mount Isa, as well as a copper refinery in Townsville, will continue to operate.
Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com
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