Nyrstar Acquires Peru Mines

London-based miner Nyrstar says it has acquired the Contonga and Pucarrajo mines in Peru for $23m cash plus $16m debt. The mines contain zinc, lead, silver, gold and copper deposits, the company says. Contonga processes about 660 tons of ore per day and Pucarrajo has the capacity to process about 1,100 tons per day, but has been shut down since June 2009 due to cash constraints, Nyrstar says. The buyer intends to ramp-up both operations to a combined capacity of more than 2,000 tons per day of ore by the end of 2012, resulting in annual production of approximately 40,000 tons of zinc in concentrate, 4,000 tons of lead in concentrate, 1,000 tons of copper in concentrate and 1.5m troy ounces of silver.