Glencore's (LON: GLEN) decision earlier this month to permanently close its Brunswick lead smelter in New Brunswick by the end of the year, won't interfere with the lead concentrate Trevali Mining (TSX: TV) produces at its Caribou mine, the company says.
"While our Caribou mine sells its concentrate to Glencore, Glencore is responsible for sourcing which of its global smelting operations or third-party smelting operations our concentrate is sent to," Brendan Creaney, Trevali's vice president of investor relations tells The Northern Miner.
"The lead concentrate typically has been sent to the Brunswick smelter for refining given the close proximity of the mine; however, it is ultimately Glencore's choice where the concentrate is refined. There is no additional cost to Trevali if Glencore elects to send the lead concentrate to another smelter."
The Caribou mine also produces a zinc concentrate, which is shipped through the Brunswick smelter's loading facility to the Noranda Income Fund's (TSX: NF) CEZ zinc refinery in Valleyfield, Quebec. Glencore effectively controls 25% of NIF.
In its announcement about the closure on Nov. 13, Glencore said the operation, which opened in 1966 and employs about 420 people, has not been economic since the Brunswick mine closed in 2013.
The Caribou underground mine, 50 km west of Bathurst in northern New Brunswick, has been producing lead and zinc concentrates since July 2016. Trevali restarted the underground mine in the first quarter of 2015.
Caribou has a 3,000 tonne per day mill, a sulphide flotation recovery plant, metallurgical and geochemical laboratories and a tailings management facility.