Global miner Rio Tinto Ltd
(ASX:RIO) says it will rebuild a smelter furnace at its Kennecott Utah Copper operation in the U.S.
Rio says the rebuild is scheduled for October 2009 and May 2010.
The miner says the Kennecott Utah Copper operation is the second largest copper producer in the U.S. and also has valuable gold, molybdenum and silver streams.
Rio says the Kennecott labor agreement expires this month and is in wage agreement talks with employees at the moment.
The company says it has a good relationship with its workforce at the operation but has a contingency plan just in case a strike occurs.
According to the Dow Jones Newswires a number of potential strikes at South American operations are causing concern for the copper market.
Rio Tinto’s 2008 net profit was US$3.7 billion a big drop from the year before.
