SYDNEY - Union workers at the Xstrata Brunswick zinc mine in Canada have voted in favour of a three-year extension of a collective bargaining deal that will surpass the expected closure of the mine, Xstrata said on Thursday.
The current agreement, which was set to expire in February 2011, will enable the firm to determine with certainty how much ore there is left to mine and what it will cost to extract it, the company said in a statement.
This will also enable Xstrata to establish a more precise date for the closure, it said.
The mine and a concentrator has the capacity to yield 3,6-million tons of ore containing zinc, lead, copper, and silver.
It was was discovered in 1953 and put in production in 1964, and has ranked as one of the world's largest of its kind.
The agreement with United Steelworkers members includes a wage increase in 2011 and a rise in pension benefits, Xstrata said.
