Huckleberry Mines Ltd has suspended pit operations at its Huckleberry copper mine in British Columbia in the face of depressed copper prices, co-owner Imperial Metals said Wednesday.
While significant efforts have been made to reduce operating costs at the open-pit mine, "the realized savings have not been sufficient to offset declining copper prices," Imperial said in a statement.
Pit operations are expected to be idled for at least the first quarter of 2016, Imperial spokesman Steve Robertson said in an interview.
"We're going to process stockpiled ore and that will give mine management the opportunity to observe the copper market and pick a direction," he said.
The move will affect around 100 of the mine's 260 employees, with the remainder to be retained to continue milling stockpiled ore.
Robertson declined to comment on the level of pricing needed to support Huckleberry's resumption of production. He said that the "significant movement in the Canadian dollar" also figured into the suspension decision.
Imperial holds a 50% interest in Huckleberry Mines Ltd. The remaining 50% is held by the Japan Group, comprised of Mitsubishi Materials Corp., Dowa Mining Co. Ltd. and Furukawa Co.
The Huckleberry mine produced 33.6 million lb of copper, 158,339 oz of silver and 2,616 oz of gold in the first nine months of 3015, in line with its targeted full-year output of 44 million lb of copper.
Imperial Metals also owns the Mount Polley and Red Chris mines in British Columbia.
