Fire Impacts Lead and Zinc Production at Xstrata's Mt Isa Plant

A fire in the conveyor system to the Heavy Medium Plant at Xstrata Zinc's Mount Isa zinc-lead concentrator on Friday 28 September resulted in property damage and an interruption to operations. The fire originated at a redundant sampler chute that was in the process of being removed from a conveyor circuit, as part of the ongoing expansion of the concentrator capacity to 8 million tonnes per annum. The fire was rapidly extinguished and there were no injuries to any mine employees.

The zinc-lead concentrator recommenced operations the same day but will operate at a reduced capacity until repairs are completed. It is estimated at this early stage that repairs will take between 4 to 6 weeks, impacting approximately 25,000 to 30,000 tonnes of zinc metal and 15,000 to 20,000 tonnes of lead. The incident is covered by an insurance policy and is not expected to result in any material impact on Xstrata’s earnings.