Operations at Chambishi Metals’ cobalt smelternhave returned to normal after a series ofnbreakdowns in recent weeks, the MineworkersnUnion of Zambia said Monday. MUZ’s president,nChewe Nkole, said the problems at thenplant — which were related to power failuresn— have been resolved and that Chambishinwas operating normally. He would not say hownmuch production had been lost. In September,nsome sources said problems at the smelternwere preventing the company from offeringncobalt on the spot market. The problemsnwould likely result in a 15% decline in outputnfor the remainder of the year, they said. ButnChambishi officials denied there were anynproblems. Speaking on condition of anonymity,nsources at the smelter said the cobalt plantnwas running normally. “In fact, the smelternis what is keeping us in terms of employment,”none smelter source said last month.nChambishi, a subsidiary of Eurasian NaturalnResources Corp., produces cobalt from a rawnmaterials feed from the Democratic Republicnof Congo. Based on information from unionnofficials at Chambishi, the plant produces annaverage of 14 mt/month of cobalt, Nkole said.
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