The forest products division of Noranda Inc. (TSE) may have led the way in 1987 in earnings, but in terms of the company’s net investment, the metals and minerals division is tops, the company reports in its 1987 annual report.
Noranda, which boosted its sales last year 18% over 1986 and had net income of $343 million compared with $43 million the year before, has four divisions, the other two being manufacturing and oil and gas.
The company attributes its outstanding financial performance to stronger markets for certain products, improved productivity, lower interest costs and a quieter labor scene which, with one exception, was strike-free last year.
In 1987, the metals and minerals division (known as Noranda Minerals) recorded earnings of $141 million, compared with $223 million by the forest products division.
Noranda Minerals, which counts 13 mines and five metallurgical plants among its holdings, markets its products in 65 countries. It produces copper, lead, zinc, gold, silver, molybdenum, sulphuric acid, potash and phosphate fertilizers.
At the company’s CCR refinery at Montreal, a new gold-refining installation has boosted capacity and a $20-million furnace is near completion. At Rouyn-Noranda, Que., the company is installing a $125 million sulphuric acid plant to reduce emissions. And at Murdochville in the Gaspe region of Quebec, where a fire last year caused suspension of underground operations, the company reports the copper mine is being rehabilitated for a possible reopening in 1989. The smelter at the Murdochville site is reported operating at capacity on concentrate purchased elsewhere. Gold properties
Among the company’s gold- mining interests is a majority shareholding in Hemlo Gold, which operates the producing Golden Giant mine at the Hemlo camp in northern Ontario.
On the exploration side, Noranda Exploration reports spending $80 million in 1987. Four prospects — Duck Pond in Newfoundland and Heath Steele/Stratmat in New Brunswick (base-metal deposits), and Tundra in the N.W.T. and Black Pine in Idaho (gold deposits) — are considered large enough to warrant the approval of additional funding for feasibility studies.
The company also reports that in 1987 it sold its exploration interests in Australia for $180 million.
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