Came across this article in regards to Handlebar Hill dated 16...

Came across this article in regards to Handlebar Hill dated 16 October.
Hopefully IDL can get back on site.

SYDNEY -(Dow Jones)- Anglo-Swiss miner Xstrata PLC (XTA.LN) said Friday that it has restarted operations at the Handlebar Hill zinc-lead mine, part of the Mount Isa mining complex in Australia's northern Queensland.

Xstrata idled the operation in February this year because of a poor market situation.

"I can confirm that opportunity mining at Handlebar Hill has resumed based on the current economic conditions," Xstrata Zinc General Manager for Business Development Warren Crabb told Dow Jones Newswires in an emailed statement.

Xstrata doesn't provide a breakdown of the different mining operations that form the Mount Isa copper-zinc-lead complex. In 2008, zinc in concentrate output totaled 283,063 metric tons and lead output was 140,023 tons.

Plummeting zinc prices in the fourth quarter last year that lasted into the first quarter this year forced many zinc mines to shut down because they were no longer profitable.

But base metals' prices have rebounded sharply, with zinc rising 60% on the London Metal Exchange since the start of the year. LME zinc for three-month delivery is currently at US$2,045/ton, up $11 on the previous afternoon kerb.



-By Elisabeth Behrmann, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-2-8272-4689 [email protected]

http://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/markets/NewsFeedItem.aspx?id=84232898655457