Zinc operation will bring jobs to economy
Teck Cominco's plan to reopen 80-year-old mine next year will benefit Pend Oreille County

Becky Kramer
Staff writer

At a glance Interview with Scott Marikis

While crews were sinking a new shaft at the Pend Oreille Mine last year, sales at Falls Grocery jumped 20 percent.

"Quite a few of the workers shopped here," said owner Ken Mix. "They were making good money and buying a lot of groceries. It makes a difference for us staying in business."

The reopening of the 80-year-old zinc mine is welcome news for Mix and other merchants in Washington's far northeast corner. When the mine opens in January 2004, it will employ about 150 people. An influx of workers has already started, with contractors coming to town for construction projects at the mine.

By global standards, Teck Cominco's zinc mine is small. Annual production is estimated at 80,000 metric tons -- less than one-tenth of the production of the Red Dog Mine, another zinc property that Teck Cominco operates in Alaska.

For Pend Oreille County's 12,000 residents, however, the new jobs are significant. In addition, the $70 million project is one of the largest mining investments in the Inland Northwest in recent years.

"Our friends at Pend Oreille will be the first from-the-ground-up project since I've been here," said Laura Skaer, executive director of the Northwest Mining Association in Spokane for the past six years.

Though Coeur d'Alene Mines and Hecla Mining Co. continue to operate mines in Idaho's Silver Valley, most of their exploration focus has shifted to low-cost gold and silver operations in Latin America. Kinross Gold Corp. laid off about 45 of its 95 workers in Kettle River, Wash., in December when the company finished mining the K2 deposit. The company is exploring another deposit, but doesn't expect to resume mining operations for about a year.

When Teck Cominco purchased the Pend Oreille Mine in 1996, it had been closed for nearly two decades. The company saw the zinc mine as a viable startup project for several reasons.

The Pend Oreille Mine is about 20 miles south of Teck Cominco's smelter in Trail, B.C., and the company recently shut down another zinc mine that supplied the smelter with ore. Strong community support for the Pend Oreille Mine's reopening, and a positive long-term outlook for zinc prices, were also factors in the decision.

"In the overall scheme of things, it's quite a small project," said Tom Merinsky, Teck Cominco's director of public relations. "Without all of those features, it probably would not be economic."

The automobile and construction industries are huge consumers of zinc, which is used as a rust-proofing agent in steel. Currently, there's an oversupply of zinc on the global market, but Teck Cominco expects that to change, Merinsky said.

A number of zinc mines have closed in recent years, leading to a shortage of unprocessed zinc concentrate. If the economy continues to improve, demand for zinc should rise, leading to higher prices, he said.

Teck Cominco expects production at the Pend Oreille Mine to last at least 10 years. With that in mind, F & H Mine Supply in Osburn, Idaho, opened a branch store in Metaline Falls last year.

"That used to be a pretty good mine," said Forest Van Dorn, F & H general manager. "And we've worked with Cominco in a lot of other spots."

The company specializes in supplies and equipment for underground mines. F & H has hired two local people to run the Metaline Falls store. It might put on one or two more, depending on business, Van Dorn said. The store also carries automotive and logging equipment.

Jane Reed, mayor of Metaline Falls, hopes the mine will bring long-term benefits to the local economy.

"We've already seen some businesses starting up because of the mine," she said. "It will be our goal that some of those businesses stay after the mine closes."

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