Cominco Alaska and the NANA Regional Corp. announced that a study is being undertaken to examine the feasibility of expanding zinc and lead concentrate production rates by 30 percent at the Red Dog Mine in northwestern Alaska. At the increased production rate, Red Dog would process 3.2 Mt/a (3.5 million stpy) of ore to produce about 820 kt/a (900,000 stpy) of zinc concentrate and 90 kt/a (100,000 stpy) of lead concentrate. These rates would make the Red Dog Mine the largest zinc concentrate producer in the world. Red Dog's ore reserves were recently expanded by about 66 Mt (73 million st) following the discovery of a new ore body north of the current open pit. The new ore body has grades of 14 percent zinc and 3 percent lead. At the increased production rate of 30 percent, reserves would be sufficient for a mine life of at least 40 years. RTZ and CRA announced plans to merge their operations and management, becoming a single corporate entity with assets of more than 14 billion US dollars. CRA is currently 49 percent-owned by London-based RTZ, the world's largest minng company. Neither company will bid for eachother and no cash will change hands or assets be exchanged. Instead, shareholders will retain their existing holdings in CRA and RTZ and vote together on all significant matters.
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