Vancouver — Just days after 300 employees at the Kemess gold-copper mine in northern British Columbia filed strike notice,
The International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 115, representing production and maintenance workers at the mine, had planned to stop working on April 23 unless a settlement could be reached. The workers have been without a contract since the end of 2001.
“The company is working diligently to negotiate an acceptable contract with the union prior to the deadline,” says Ken Stow, president of Kemess Mines, a subsidiary of Northgate.
Details of the offer will not be released until the union tables the proposal to its members. The union and members of the bargaining committee are expected to recommend its acceptance.
Northgate posted a loss of $9.9 million last year as low metals prices offset improved operating results at the Kemess South open-pit mine. The operation produced 277,000 oz. gold and 66 million lbs. copper in 2001. Kemess is expected to produce an average of 260,000 oz. gold and 75 million lbs. copper annually over its remaining 8-year mine life.
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