Industrias Peñoles has suspended temporary operations of its zinc mine in Mexico’s central state of Zacatecas due to the abrupt drop in the price of zinc and the high costs of operations.
Last year, the zinc mine, which is named Francisco I. Madero, in Morelos, Zacatecas, processed 2.3mn mt of ore and produced 41,541mt of zinc and 8,905mt of lead, the Mexican miner said in a statement.
The suspension of operations will not affect its production of refined zinc, Peñoles said adding that it has begun laying off unionized workers in the mine and will try to reassign some workers and contractors to other units.
The miner increased its zinc production in Q1 2020 by 5.1pc to 73,988mt, compared to to 70,370mt in the same period of 2019.
Mexico produced 38,636mt of zinc in February this year, down by 3.6pc from 40,027mt of zinc produced in the same month the prior year, according the latest data from Mexico’s National Statistics Agency (Inegi).