Boliden’s Tara mine back in full production

Vancouver The Tara zinc mine owned and operated by Boliden (BLS-T) is back in full production after a mill breakdown curtailed production earlier this year. Situated in Ireland, the Tara mine is the largest zinc-lead deposit in Europe.

A motor breakdown at one of the grinding mills resulted in a 40% decline in the production of zinc and lead concentrate, and led to an estimated loss of SEK$40 million for Boliden.

Now that repairs are completed and the mill is running at full capacity, Boliden will be able to fulfill its contracted deliveries for the rest of the year. The company will also be able to lift its previously declared partial Force Majeure.

Boliden acquired the Tara mine in early 2004 as part of a transaction with former owner Outokumpu whereby Boliden acquired Outokumpu’s zinc-copper mining and smelting operations. In return, Outokumpu acquired Boliden’s fabrication and technology sales units.

The Tara zinc mine has an annual production capacity of about 400,000 tonnes of zinc concentrate and about 50,000 tonnes of lead concentrate. The mine began production in mid-1997, with reserves of about 70 million tonnes grading 10.1% zinc and 2.6% lead.