Falco up and running after blackout

Falconbridge (FL-T) says its Ontario-based mining operations were up and running on Aug. 18, following North America’s largest-ever power outage, which began in the late afternoon of Aug. 14.

The Sudbury smelter lost three days of nickel matte production during one of the tightest supply periods for nickel in several years. The smelter was operating at 100% capacity at the time of the shutdown.

The Kidd Creek copper-zinc operations, near Timmins, Ont., had been working at only 50% capacity, owing to a 12-week closure of the zinc refinery, partly for maintenance.

Falconbridge produces about 28,000 tonnes of nickel from its Sudbury smelter and about 146,000 tonnes of copper cathode and 145,000 tonnes of zinc from the Kidd Mining division.