Hudbay to shutter flagship mining operations in Manitoba eliminating 900 jobs

Hudbay Minerals Inc., the owner of the proposed Rosemont Copper Mine, is closing down its flagship mining operations in northern Manitoba in 2021, an action that will eliminate 900 jobs and inflict severe economic damage to the community of Flin Flon that has depended on mining for more than 90 years.

“Prospects for our members are bleak,” a joint statement issued by seven Flin Flon unions warned after Hudbay announced its plans to shut down all mining operations in the town of about 5,000 residents.

“Some will have to leave Flin Flon. Members are already looking for jobs elsewhere. If they risk staying past 2021, there will be minimal good paying jobs in Flin Flon. We believe this will devastate the community of Flin Flon and surrounding area, as for every one job we lose, four people are affected,” reads the union statement published in The Reminder, Flin Flon’s weekly newspaper.

Hudbay Manitoba business unit vice president Rob Assabgui released a statement to workers in late November stating that efforts by the company to extend the lifespan of the 777 mine had failed, not only stating the mine would shut down by 2021, but that the Flin Flon mill would be placed under care and maintenance and the zinc plant would “most likely” be shut down, The Reminder reported.

“We have to be honest: after mining for 90 years in the Flin Flon area, we now know that we won’t have an anchor mine to replace 777 and sustain operations in Flin Flon the same way they are today,” Assabgui stated. “Despite a lot of work over the past few years, the most likely scenario is that mining operations will cease in Flin Flon in 2021. As a result, the Flin Flon mill will also cease operations.”

The Winnipeg Free Press reported that Cal Huntley, the mayor of Flin Flon, said that about 300 Hudbay employees are eligible for retirement.

“Obviously, it is very upsetting to the community,” Huntley told the Free Press. “This was one of the scenarios that were discussed over the past several years. So it was not totally unknown, but it is not the option we were hoping for.”

Hudbay has been steadily shifting the focus of its mining operations to lower labor cost areas since 2014 when the company opened the Constancia open-pit mine in southern Peru. The cost to produce a ton of ore in Manitoba runs about $80.80 per ton compared to only about $8.68 per ton in Peru,  according to Hudbay’s 3rd Quarter Management Discussion and Analysis report filed with Canadian financial regulators.

Hudbay produced 30,222 tons of copper for the three months ended Sept. 30 from the Constancia Mine. The company produced 26,00o tons of copper concentrate in Flin Flon for the same period.

Hudbay is seeking permits to construct the $1.9 billion Rosemont Copper Mine in the Santa Rita Mountains on the Coronado National Forest southeast of Tucson. The company needs a Clean Water Act permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to complete the permitting process.

Project opponents have already filed multiple federal lawsuits challenging previous federal decisions in connection with the permitting process.

Hudbay’s mining operations in Flin Flon, Peru, Guatemala, and Arizona were the focus of the 2015 documentary Flin Flon Flim Flam. The film revealed the environmental and cultural impacts of Hudbay’s mines the people and communities where it operates.