HudBay Minerals to close Flin Flon copper smelter by mid-2010

HudBay Minerals Inc. said Thursday it expects to shut down its copper smelter in Flin Flon, Man., before July 1, 2010, costing 225 jobs.

"The Flin Flon copper smelter has been a great asset and one of the centrepieces of our operations for over 80 years," said Peter Jones, HudBay's chief executive officer.

"Today's business realities, combined with the age of the plant and regulatory changes, make continued operation of this plant impractical and uneconomic," he said in a release.

The smelter has a capacity of 90,000 tonnes of copper anode.

The Flin Flon location also includes a zinc plant, and a copper and zinc concentrator.

HudBay said the closure will have minimal financial impact on the company.

The company also said its copper refinery in White Pine, Mich., will close shortly after the shutdown of the Flin Flon smelter.  Roughly 65 jobs will be affected at the Michigan location.

HudBay stock added 21 cents to $7.84 in TSX trading.