Canada's Capstone to hire back laid-off workers thanks to copper price rally

The recent and sustained rally in copper prices has prompted Canadian Capstone Mining (TSX:CS) to attempt hiring back most of the workers it had to lay off in October at its Minto mine, Yukon's only copper operation..

The Vancouver-based miner is asking the territorial government to approve an amendment to its mining plan, which would allow it to start a new open pit on the property, Yukon News reports.

The Minto copper mine, located about 240 kilometres northwest of Whitehorse, near Pelly Crossing, shut all open-pit mining operations on Oct. 1, which meant letting go 58 workers contracted through Pelly Construction Ltd.

Mine location. (Image courtesy of Capstone Mining)

Resuming some open pit operations at the new deposit on site would allow the company to bring back between 40 and 45 people to begin working in January.

Copper prices, in steady decline since 2011 due to China's slowing economic growth, have spiked over the past two months, boosting both the stock prices for copper mining companies and the hopes of developers with projects in their pipeline.

The red metal was trading at around $2.6 per pound in New York Wednesday morning, and it's has been hovering around that price for a week, significantly higher than its $1.96/lb value of early in the year.