Yerington mine announces layoffs

Saturday, Nov. 29, 1997 | 7:46 a.m.

Roy Shipes, president and owner of Arimetco International Inc., said the company's MacArthur Mine was shut down Nov. 21 for up to six months.

"We're in for a rugged ride," Shipes told the Mason Valley News. "The metal business is very cyclical, and we have to wait to make any decisions concerning the MacArthur site.

"Everyone is scaling back mining operations and not just copper. This week gold also dropped like a rock from $350 to $300 an ounce."

He said copper prices have taken a pounding in recent weeks, dropping from about $1.10 per pound to only 83 cents per pound.

He said it costs 95 cents per pound to operate the MacArthur site, and it would cost the company $500,000 per month to continue the operation.

The company operated the mine for too long at a loss the last time the copper market collapsed, and has had to shut down operations there several times before, Shipes added.

The 26 workers constitute about a quarter of the company's work force in the Yerington area.

The company will continue operating its Weed Heights mine with the remaining work force.

Shipes said it would cost only about 70 cents per pound to process about 90 million tons of available stockpile at the Weed Heights mine.

In October, Arimetco was slapped with three air quality violations by Nevada environmental regulators. The violations stemmed from dust problems at its Yerington-area operations.