Swedish miner Boliden (STO: BOL) it had halted production at its Tara mine in Ireland, Europe鈥檚 largest zinc mine, due to increased water flows into the operation.
Water began flooding the underground mine as a crew was drilling a pilot raisbore hole for a ventilation shaft.
Inflow volumes are exceeding the capacity of the dewatering infrastructure, the company said, adding it was unclear for how long production will be stopped.
In 2020, the Tara mine produced 127,000 tonnes of zinc concentrate and 14,000 tonnes of lead concentrate.聽聽
The news boosted zinc prices 2.2% to 3,420 a tonne on the London Metal Exchange. On Tuesday, the metal had recorded the biggest gain in a month as Glencore (LON: GLEN) announced it was聽preparing to shut down production in Italy.
Zinc production had already been hit by supply cuts announced by Trafigura,聽Nyrstar聽and Glencore, which sent prices up 13% in October.聽
Global zinc production is estimated at about 14 million tonnes this year, with about half of that expected to come from China, the world鈥檚 largest producer.
The metal is聽mainly used to聽galvanize聽steel or iron聽by applying聽a zinc coating to stop聽rusting.聽Galvanized steel is used聽in buildings, cars and electronics.聽