| SYDNEY (Dow Jones)--Canada-based lead miner Ivernia Inc. (IVW.T) said Friday it will start shipping 21,000 metric tons of lead concentrate stored at the Magellan mine site in Western Australia during the third quarter, which will take about six months. The Toronto-based miner also said planning for the restart of the 100,000-ton-a-year lead mine has begun, but as previously reported, Ivernia doesn't expect to start mining again until 2010, and the date of the recommencing will take into account economic conditions. "Once a mine restart decision has been made, it is anticipated that it will take up to six months before full production levels are achieved. Given the time necessary to complete shipping of the stockpile at the mine site, 2009 operations will likely involve shipments of the existing stockpile only, with actual restart of mining operations not currently anticipated to occur before 2010," Ivernia said in its first quarter results statement. Ivernia was forced to put Magellan on care and maintenance more than two years ago, after the government revoked its export license because of cases of lead poisoning at the Port of Esperance. Earlier this month, Ivernia concluded shipment of about 8,000 tons of concentrate that had been stranded at Esperance. The Western Australian government in February granted a new export license to ship concentrate in double-lined bags inside containers through the Port of Fremantle. London Metal Exchange lead last traded at $1,432/ton, down $18 on the previous afternoon kerb. -By Elisabeth Behrmann, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-2-8272-4689 elisabeth.behrmann@dowjones.com Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: https://www.djnewsplus.com/nae/al?rnd=lqurHzy54Ksoo8yrPNKWxA%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day. (END) Dow Jones Newswires 05-14-09 2049ET Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. |