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Xstrata Plans To Phase Out Copper Smelting At Australia's Mount Isa
Xstrata (LSE:XTA)
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Today : Tuesday 17 May 2011
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Anglo-Swiss mining giant Xstrata PLC's (XTA.LN) Xstrata Mount Isa Mines plans to phase out copper smelting at Mount Isa and refining operations at Townsville by the end of 2016, citing challenging market conditions for those businesses as a result of global overcapacity.

"The economic viability of our Mount Isa copper smelting and refining operations has been under increasing pressure for a number of years and cannot be sustained in the long term," Xstrata Copper North Queensland Chief Operating Officer Steve de Kruijff said in statement. "We need to evolve our business to ensure we can secure the future of our operations for the long term."

Xstrata plans to expand mining and concentrate production at the Mount Isa Mines as well as potentially develop new mines at Mount Isa and in the region.

-By Cynthia Koons; Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]