North American Palladium is restarting operations at its Lac des Iles mine in northwestern Ontario.
The first concentrate will be produced in the second quarter of 2010.
The mine, 150 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, has been on care and maintenance since October 2008 when production was halted because of falling palladium prices.
“We are very encouraged by the steady rise in the price of palladium,” said NAP president William Biggar in a Dec. 8 news release. “With palladium approaching $400 an ounce (US), we believe it is the right time to resume operations at LDI.”
The company expects to produce 140,000 ounces per year over the next two years.
NAP intends to hire 150 employees with the restart which will bring the total workforce up to 180 employees when operations resume.
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