Xstrata Kidd ops on strike

By Cameron French

TORONTO (Reuters) - Xstrata's (XTA.L) Kidd metallurgical operations in northern Ontario lay idle on Wednesday after unionized workers walked off the job, but the company said it expected to have part of the copper-zinc operation up and running within a week.

The 600 unionized workers went on strike at midnight after failing to come to a new contract agreement with the company. Wage increases and contractual language were the main hiccups in getting the deal done, union officials said.

The operation, which consists of a concentrator, copper and zinc smelters, and refinery, supplies about 1 percent of the world's copper and about 1 percent of the world's zinc. It also produces more than half a million tonnes of sulphuric acid.

Xstrata Copper spokesman Louis-Philippe Gariepy said it was too early to tell when shipments to customers may be affected, but said the company was taking steps to restart the concentrator, or mill, using management as labour.

"We are working on finalizing the training for some staff members so they we can start operating the mill within the next seven calendar days," he said.

"We'll make a decision on the rest later on."

Processed concentrate will be stockpiled at the site, and could be shipped to third parties for smelting if the strike goes on too long, he said.

Xstrata shut down the operations on Tuesday in preparation for a work stoppage. The copper smelter was already halted for planned maintenance.