New deal at Altonorte in Chile

Employees at Noranda‘s (NRD-T) Altonorte custom copper smelter in Chile have ratified a 3-year collective agreement. The new deal includes improved wages and benefits, and has provisions for performance bonuses.

A US$170-million expansion program that wrapped up earlier this year more than doubled the smelter’s capacity to treat copper concentrate to 820,000 tonnes per year. Annual copper anode production has increased to 290,000 from 160,000 tonnes, whereas production of byproduct sulphuric acid has risen to 700,000 from 220,000 tonnes.

In 2002, the smelter processed more than 452,000 tonnes of material and produced 323,000 tonnes of sulphuric acid. About 500 people are employed at the site.