RIO Tinto has announced it will put a $229m copper and gold development in NSW on hold as copper prices continue to plummet.
The announcement comes a day after the company confirmed it will delay expansions at its Corumba iron ore mine in Brazil.
The Northparkes mine is a copper-gold mine situated approximately 27km north-west of Parkes in central-west NSW. The mine produces high grade copper-gold concentrate which is shipped to a number of international smelters.
While expansion plans have been shelved for now, Rio assures the open-cut mine will continue to operate as usual.
Plummeting copper prices have also pushed a number of other Australian miners to cut production and restructure their processes.
Xstrata is restructuring a number of its mineral and metal operations in Queensland, while Oz Minerals plans to cut its zinc production in 2009 in favour of copper.
Add a comment