Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. (TSX: TCM) is shutting down the mining portion of the company’s molybdenum Endako mine and cutting back staff for “a short period of time” as it grapples with low molybdenum prices.
Jocelyn Fraser, the company’s director of corporate responsibility, told Business in Vancouver that the move is a cost-control measure.
“We’re going to stop open-pit operations for a short period of time,” she said. “During that time the mill will continue to process existing stockpiles and we’re going to focus on optimizing performance and recovery of the new mill that we recently commissioned there,” she said.
Fraser noted that the new mill achieved commercial production in February.
On August 9, Thompson Creek announced losses of $18.4 million for its second quarter.
The company stated, “The operating losses were primarily the result of higher unit operating costs at both the Endako and Thompson Creek mines primarily as a result of lower production volume. [This] in turn led to lower sales volumes, lower-of-cost or market product inventory write-downs, lower average realized molybdenum prices compared to the same period in 2011 and the company’s share commissioning and start-up costs at the new Endako mill.”
It added that production and costs during the second quarter were hit by lower-than-anticipated ore grades at Endako and Thompson Creek mines. It stated that the average realized molybdenum sales price for the second quarter was $14.55 per pound, down from $17.28 in the same period last year.
In March, the Endako mine received the provincial go ahead for a $600 mine expansion.
