BHP Billiton Announces Closure of Pering Lead Zinc Mine, Sth Africa.Business Editors BHP Billiton BHP Billiton is the world's largest mining company.[1] Its origin is in the 2001 merger of Australia's Broken Hill Proprietary Company (BHP) and the UK's Billiton, which has a South African background. The result is a dual-listed company. Base Metals (BHP) today announced that the Pering Mine in South Africa South Africa, Afrikaans Suid-Afrika, officially Republic of South Africa, republic (2005 est. pop. 44,344,000), 471,442 sq mi (1,221,037 sq km), S Africa. will cease operations at the end of 2002. The mine was originally expected to close in early 2004, however, recent market conditions have necessitated that this be accelerated. Brad Mills, President, BHP Billiton Base Metals commented, "The Pering Mine has been in operation for 16 years but the ore reserve is now nearly depleted de·plete tr.v. de·plet·ed, de·plet·ing, de·pletes To decrease the fullness of; use up or empty out. [Latin d . Pering will continue to operate at maximum plant capacity until the economically mineable reserve is depleted, which it is estimated will be by December 2002. Thereafter full scale closure and reclamation activities will commence." Over the life of the mine, Pering produced approximately 39 000 tonnes of zinc concentrate and 6 000 tonnes of lead concentrate per annum Per annum Yearly. . The social and environmental impact of the mine's closure has been and will continue to be a focal point focal point n. See focus. of the closure plan. Together with the trade unions, a significant effort is being placed on the development of a social plan aimed at reducing the economic impact on Pering's 193 employees. The social plan focuses on non-mining related job creation projects to assist in the sustainability of the Reivilo town and the local community. Further news and information can be found on our Internet site: www.bhpbilliton.com. |
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