A decision on the reopening of Tara Mines has been delayed until June 7th due to a fall in zinc prices.
It had been expected that an announcement would be made this week on the reopening of the mine, which closed last November, forcing its 700 workers into temporary redundancy.
At the time, the mine's owners, Finnish company Outokumpu, blamed the sharp fall in zinc prices on world markets for the decision.
Rises in the price over the past few months had raised hopes that the mine would be reopened.
"The reason [for the delay] is that the zinc price just collapsed again. They were really low and there was no way we could take this definite decision," said Mr Eero Laatio, managing director of Tara Mines.
Mr Laatio said Tara's board would submit a proposal on the reopening on June 7th, irrespective of what happened to the zinc prices over the coming weeks. "Whether there is a decision is a different story," he said. "It will depend on how we see the market situation at that time, looking towards the autumn."
In March, the company re-employed around 500 of the staff, some on a job-sharing basis, to work on a redevelopment programme at the mine. Outokumpu said in a statement yesterday that the programme was progressing on schedule. "It is already evident that with the improvements, the cost structure of the mine will enhance the competitiveness of the operation," it said.
Outokumpu had earlier said it could reopen Tara - Europe's biggest zinc mine with annual production of almost 200,000 tonnes - in June at the earliest, if the mine could be made profitable through cost-cutting and an investment programme.
International prices for zinc are around their lowest for more than a decade due to excess supply and poor demand.
Shutting Tara in late 2001 was part of Outokumpu's move to quit capital-intensive base metals mining.
In late March, the company said it was in talks with several parties to sell the mine.
Mr Laatio said Tara could be ready to go back into production from the beginning of July, if it got the go-ahead from Outokumpu.
Asked if the mine could operate profitably, he said "absolutely", but he declined to say if the mine's profitability would meet Outokumpu's requirements.
He said he hoped zinc prices would improve in the second half of this year on the back of signs of global economic recovery.