Falco slashes Kidd workforce by 10%

With the planned 9-week shutdown of the Kidd metallurgical site already extended by a month, Falconbridge (FL-T) intends to cut 85 jobs at the Ontario operation.

The jobs will be cut over three months beginning July 1. Early retirement packages will be offered to minimize the number of firings required. The operation employs 840 workers.

In late April, Falco announced it would shut down refining operations at Kidd from June 29 until Sept. 30 in an effort to reduce inventory.

The company figures the actions will help it save $6 million annually, while maintaining output levels of copper and zinc.

Falco plans to produce around 110,000 tonnes of zinc and 140,000 tonnes of copper at Kidd in 2003. In 2002, the operation churned out 145,000 tonnes of zinc and 147,000 tonnes of copper.

During the first three months of 2003, the Kidd Creek division suffered an operating loss of $21 million, as cash costs jumped 73% to US97 per lb. copper, net of zinc credits.

The division’s operating loss for all of 2002 totalled $78 million in 2002, despite increased mine production and record volumes of refined copper and zinc. Cash costs averaged US62 per lb.