Lundin suspends Portugese zinc expansion over virus concerns

Lundin Mining has temporarily suspended the construction and commissioning of its Neves-Corvo zinc expansion project in Portugal until further notice in response to increasing risks associated with the coronavirus pandemic, the company said on Monday.

"As the workforce for the project includes many contract employees who travel from other regions of Portugal and internationally, the risk is that the virus could be brought to the Alentejo region by people travelling to come to work on our project," Lundin CEO Marie Inkster said in a statement.

"The health and safety of our local communities, employees and contractors is of utmost importance so we have taken this step to reduce the risks to them and to lower the risk of significant disruption to the business."

Lundin said it will continue to assess the impact of the temporary suspension on the project's timelines and budget and will provide an update once the assessments have been completed, according to the statement.

Lundin's 2019 cumulative zinc output totaled 151,515 mt at all of its operations, flat year over year, but Inkster said in February that the expansion of the company's zinc operations at Neves-Corvo would double the mine's zinc production in 2020.

At the time, Lundin projected total annual zinc output to be between 172,000 mt and 187,000 mt in its 2020 guidance as a result of the Neves-Corvo zinc expansion.

The expansion project is expected to generate an average of 150,000 mt/year of zinc in concentrate over 10 years at Neves-Corvo.

Beyond Neves-Corvo, Lundin said it will continually assess the situation at each of its individual operations around the globe and respond accordingly, with limited external visitors allowed to its sites.

The Toronto-based miner said there has been no material impact to production or shipment of concentrate from any of its operations to date as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.