Sumitomo temporarily halts Zn, Ni mining operations

Japanese trading house Sumitomo has temporarily halted operations at its nonferrous metals mining projects in Bolivia and Madagascar in line with enforced precautionary measures to prevent the coronavirus from further spreading.

Sumitomo said it has decided to temporarily suspend the Minera San Cristobal zinc-lead-silver project in Bolivia and the Ambatovy nickel project in Madagascar to ensure the safety of their workers. Both countries' governments have imposed strict measures to rein in the spread of the coronavirus, making it difficult for the company to secure transportation for workers and disrupting logistics.

The San Cristobal mine is producing around 1,300 t/d of zinc concentrates and 300 t/d of lead concentrates. Sumitomo in 2006 originally bought a 35pc share in San Cristobal before wholly acquiring the project in 2009.

Sumitomo prior to the closure projected its production at San Cristobal at 202,000t and 47,000t respectively of zinc and lead contained in concentrates for the April 2019-March 2020 fiscal year, down by 2pc and 31pc from 2018-19.

Sumitomo in February this year revised down its 2019-20 output target for Ambatovy, citing a delayed restart after November 2019 maintenance. The firm's share of Ambatovy nickel output is projected at 17,600t in 2019-20, up by 5pc from 2018-19. Sumitomo has a 47.67pc share of Ambatovy.

Many countries are stepping up measures to slow down the spread of the coronavirus, significantly affecting mining operations. Japan's JX Nippon Mining & Metals and Mitsui Mining & Smelting have also reported disruptions at their mining operations in Chile and Peru.

By Rieko Suda