JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Belgium-based Nyrstar has signed an agreement to buy Glencore’s East-Tennessee zinc mine complex for $126-million, the world’s biggest producer of zinc said on Monday.

The Glencore group, which bought the operation for $65-million in 2006, placed the mine on care-and-maintenance in February.

Nyrstar said that the East Tennessee zinc complex comprised the Young, Immel and Coy mines, all three of which were located within about 32 km of each other and about 405 km of its Clarksville smelter and Gordonsville zinc mine complex.

The Clarksville smelter, was originally constructed to treat the high-grade concentrate from these mines. 

At full production, these mines would be capable of providing more than 100% of the concentrate requirements for this smelter with the East-Tennessee mine complex producing about 110 000 t at a grade of 62%.

Nyrstar CEO Roland Junck said that the company had recently started limited operations at the Gordonsville zinc mine complex and that it planned to pursue a measured ramp-up of operations over the next six months.

At the East-Tennessee mine complex, Nyrstar intended to recommence operations “as quickly as possible”, he added.

The acquisition remained subject to a number of conditions including finalisation of due diligence. Subject to this, completion of the transaction was currently expected to occur during fourth quarter of 2009.

The acquisition would be funded from existing cash reserves, and the costs associated with recommencing operations at the East-Tennessee Zinc mine complex were not expected to be material.

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