DEMING – Most employees at Freeport-McMoRan’s Chino Mine were placed on an unpaid furlough Sunday, April 26th, which could last for up to a month.
According to the Silver City Daily Press, a letter from Freeport’s management said furloughed employees would technically remain employed with the company even though they were not being paid, and would be eligible for benefits during that time.
The furloughs come in the wake of the COVID-19 response causing a global economic slowdown, as well as a slump in copper prices.
Employees at the Tyrone Mine are unaffected.
Despite the furlough, limited operations at Chino were expected to be restarted Sunday, including the mine’s Hydromet operation.
Reportedly, HydroMet focuses on collecting and recycling the contaminant metals in byproduct waste residues from various smelter and industrial manufacturing processes.
The Chino mine has been largely closed since Saturday, April 11th, when work was suspended after an outbreak of COVID-19 among workers in the mine’s truck shop.
Freeport-McMoRan employs about 1,500 people at its New Mexico operations, according to a 2018 company report.
According to the Silver City Daily Press, a letter from Freeport’s management said furloughed employees would technically remain employed with the company even though they were not being paid, and would be eligible for benefits during that time.
The furloughs come in the wake of the COVID-19 response causing a global economic slowdown, as well as a slump in copper prices.
Employees at the Tyrone Mine are unaffected.
Despite the furlough, limited operations at Chino were expected to be restarted Sunday, including the mine’s Hydromet operation.
Reportedly, HydroMet focuses on collecting and recycling the contaminant metals in byproduct waste residues from various smelter and industrial manufacturing processes.
The Chino mine has been largely closed since Saturday, April 11th, when work was suspended after an outbreak of COVID-19 among workers in the mine’s truck shop.
Freeport-McMoRan employs about 1,500 people at its New Mexico operations, according to a 2018 company report.
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