A 9,889-foot copper and zinc mine in northern Ontario that has given up more than 170 million tons of ore was due to shut in December, and the gold miner that took it over with the cleanup bill is keeping its ore trains running and plans to drill the deepest base- - Autonocion.com

AI desk brief

Discovery Mining has kept Kidd Creek operating after taking over the Ontario copper-zinc mine from Glencore, extending what had been slated as a December shutdown. The company also sees strategic value in the site for its nearby gold operations, citing 90 MW of power, existing water treatment, rail access and tailings capacity that could rise from 50 million tons to more than 500 million tons if a gold circuit is built.

Discovery expects Kidd to produce 11,000-16,500 tons of zinc, 5,500-7,700 tons of copper and about 400,000 oz of silver over the rest of this year, with June output at roughly 113,000 tons of ore processed. Management says the deposit remains open at depth, but any decision on a longer-life plan will depend on technical studies and drilling.