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Xstrata to spend C$121 mln to expand Canada mine
TORONTO (Reuters) - Xstrata (XTA.L) will spend C$121 million ($115 million) to deepen and extend the life of its Kidd copper and zinc mine in Northern Ontario, Canada, the Anglo-Swiss mining giant said on Wednesday.
Xstrata, which acquired the mine with its takeover of Canadian miner Falconbridge in 2006, said the investment will add 3.4 million tonnes of ore to the mine's production and extend its life by one year to 2017, Xstrata said.
The construction should be completed by 2010 and will deepen the mining zone at Kidd's D mine to 9,500 feet from 9,100 feet.
The mine is already the world's deepest copper and zinc mine, Xstrata said.
"We continue to study the potential to add more reserves and extend its operational life," Claude Ferron, chief operating officer of the company's Canadian copper division, said in a statement.
Kidd began operations in 1966. Xstrata's copper division is the world's No. 4 producer, it said.
In 2007, approval was given to extend Kidd D's mining zone to 9,100 feet and in June 2008 to 9,500 feet for a combined additional investment of C$148 million, Xstrata said.
The mine produces about 45,000 tonnes of copper and 130,000 of zinc annually.
($1=$1.05 Canadian)
(Reporting by Cameron French; editing by Janet Guttsman)
