Production difficulties at the new lead smelter at Trail, B.C., have forced Cominco (TSE) to shut down temporarily operations. The company has been experiencing problems with the process since the smelter began operations in December but was unable to address them without shutting down operations.
Changes will be made to the reactor, drossing plant, slag granulation, boiler and ventilation portions of the plant. They are expected to take a minimum of two months.
The primary change will be to improve the reduction section of the reactor where more oxygen and natural gas injectors will be added.
The shutdown is not expected to affect materially production since the old smelter will be geared up to full capacity. Cominco has been running the old section at about 50% capacity to make up for shortfalls in production at the new plant.
With transfers to the old plant and work on the shutdown, no employees have been affected by the changes. The employee contract is up on June 30 and initial talks are expected to begin in mid-April.
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