Mitsui mining restarts Pallca zinc mine in Perú on prices

Bloomberg reported that Mitsui Mining & Smelting Company has restarted its Pallca mine in Peru as rising demand boosts metal prices.
Mr Yushi Sugiura a spokesman for the Tokyo based company said that we restarted operation at the Pallca mine from October. Mine output at Pallca which has annual capacity of 15,000 tonnes to 16,000 tonnes of zinc in concentrate was suspended in December 2008.
Mr Sugiura said that zinc prices have almost doubled this year as government stimulus spending globally has increased demand for the industrial metal used to galvanize steel and in die casting. In 2008, the price fell 49% as the global credit crunch following the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. pushed the world into recession.
He said that Pallca currently produces 130 tonnes of ore a day versus its daily output capacity of 500 tonnes. The company plans to raise the mine’s output to 500 tonnes of ore containing 10% zinc from April.
Zinc for delivery in 3 months rose 1.4% to USD 2,329.75 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange as of 4:41 PM in Tokyo. The price reached USD 2,441 on December 3rd 2009 the highest level since March 2008.
(Sourced from Bloomberg)