An ongoing strike at its Horne smelter in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, is forcing Noranda (NRD-T) to temporarily close its CCR copper refinery in Montreal-East.
The shutdown is scheduled for July 28 and will last three weeks.
On June 18, 510 unionized employees walked off the job at Horne after their complaints about subcontracting went unheard. Three days later, Noranda declared force majeure and has since run the smelter at less than half normal operating levels. Earlier this month, the major went a step further by taking the decision to quench the furnances on July 21.
Horne has capacity to produce 220,000 tonnes of copper annodes per year, two-thirds of which are sent to the 330,000-tonne-capacity refinery. Noranda had claimed it would cover the shortfall with inventory and third-party purchases.
The smelter will renew operations on August 11, followed by the refinery a week later.
Be the first to comment on "Noranda plans shutdown at CCR refinery"