A dump truck moves raw ore inside the pit at the Mountain Pass mine, operated by MP Materials, in Mountain Pass, California, U.S., on Friday, June 7, 2019. America's only rare earths producer, MP Materials, has been shipping all its output from the Mountain Pass mine in California to China because there is currently no refining capacity available to handle its production anywhere else in the world, its biggest shareholder said last month. Photographer: Joe Buglewicz/Bloomberg Here’s how some key companies are being affected by the pandemic. For a more detailed spreadsheet of disruptions, based on the latest publicly available data at time of writing, click here.
| Company | Mine | Product | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rio Tinto | Richards Bay Minerals in South Africa | Zircon, rutile, iron, slag | Production will halt by midnight Thursday, company will put furnaces on care and maintenance |
| Rio Tinto | Aluminium assets in Canada | Aluminium | Company will slowproduction in Quebec, in line with provincial curbs on activity |
| Vale | Voisey’s Bay in Canada | Nickel-cobalt-copper concentrate, copper concentrate | Mine put on care and maintenance for four weeks, copper-concentrate production at Long Harbour will be reduced proportionally to the period of the stoppage |
| Codelco | Copper mines in Chile | Copper | Reduced capacity for 15 days beginning March 19 |
| Freeport-McMoRan | Cerro Verde mine in Peru | Copper | Mine put under care and maintenance for 15 days beginning March 16 |
| Hochschild Mining | San Jose mine in Argentina | Gold, silver | Production halted to comply with quarantine measures |
| Lynas | Rare earths plant in Malaysia | Rare earths | Production at processing plant halted until at least March 31 |
| Sibanye | All mines in South Africa | Platinum, palladium, rhodium, gold | Preparing for care and maintenance in compliance with South Africa’s three-week lockdown |
| Newmont | Yanacocha mine in Peru, Cerro Negro in Argentina | Gold | Preparing for care and maintenance |
| Agnico Eagle | Meliadine and Meadowbank mines | Gold | 19% of mine workers sent home for four weeks |