{"id":2812,"date":"2026-02-12T14:25:35","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T14:25:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/2812\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T14:25:35","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T14:25:35","slug":"glencore-to-suspend-plan-to-upgrade-quebec-copper-smelter-after-emissions-talks-break-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/2812\/","title":{"rendered":"Glencore to suspend plan to upgrade Quebec copper smelter after emissions talks break down"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Glencore’s plans to modernize the Horne smelter in Rouyn-Noranda included $300-million to reduce pollution as well as other upgradesStephane Blais\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Swiss mining giant Glencore PLC GLNCY<\/a> is suspending investment plans worth $1-billion for its century-old copper smelter in northern Quebec<\/a> after the failure of negotiations with the provincial government over toxic arsenic emissions. <\/p>\n

Glencore said Tuesday that it won\u2019t move forward with previous plans to modernize the Horne smelter in Rouyn-Noranda, which included $300-million to reduce pollution as well as other upgrades. <\/p>\n

The decision raises the prospect that Canada\u2019s only copper smelter will end operations, although the company says it remains hopeful that it can strike a deal to avoid that outcome. Senior political leaders in Ottawa are keeping close tabs on the situation. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is very disappointing to be potentially on the path to closure when we are convinced the Horne smelter\u2019s operations are safe for the community,\u201d Marc B\u00e9dard, Glencore\u2019s chief operating officer of custom metallurgical assets, said in a statement. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have worked in good faith and explored every option available to us. Protecting jobs and maintaining operations remain the company\u2019s top priorities, but the conditions needed to move forward simply are not in place right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

From the archives: A Quebec city, fearing arsenic in the air, presses the province to get tougher on Glencore smelter<\/a><\/p>\n

The company has been in talks with the Quebec government since last summer about securing the long-term viability of the Horne site, as well as a related refinery in Montreal\u2019s east end. The two parties are at odds over the targets for reducing emissions at Horne and the timeline for achieving those reductions. <\/p>\n

Glencore is looking for more clarity surrounding its environmental permitting. Authorizing a major investment to upgrade the copper smelter operations would be \u201cirresponsible\u201d without assurance that the regulatory conditions would allow the site to continue operating within a \u201cpredictable and realistic longer-term framework,\u201d the company said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Horne is now operating under a ministerial authorization that limits arsenic emissions in the ambient air of the smelter\u2019s property line to 45 nanograms a cubic metre as an annual average, with a scheduled decrease to 15 ng\/m\u00b3 in March of next year. Glencore is asking Quebec to modify that authorization to give the company until the end of 2029 to meet that new target. It also wants the province to provide assurances it will maintain that limit through the duration of the next applicable ministerial authorization and not reduce it further. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all about risk management,\u201d Mr. B\u00e9dard said in an interview Wednesday. \u201cIf they\u2019re not able to give us that level of certainty in the long run that we will stay at 15, then we need to find other ways to de-risk.\u201d <\/p>\n

In Namibia, a Canadian copper company leaves a legacy of toxic waste<\/a><\/p>\n

Glencore is exploring various solutions with Quebec, including having the province share in the risk by investing in the Horne upgrade projects, Mr. B\u00e9dard said. He said the company has also been in talks with Ottawa about support.<\/p>\n

The current permit for Horne\u2019s operation requires Glencore to submit an action plan outlining measures and actions aimed at working toward emissions of 3 ng\/m\u00b3, a limit in place in other parts of the province. Mr. B\u00e9dard said that\u2019s \u201ctechnically impossible\u201d for that facility to achieve. <\/p>\n

\u201cI want this to be crystal clear: If people are asking us to get to the three, then we\u2019d better shut down now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Premier Fran\u00e7ois Legault<\/a> said Quebec has already offered Glencore predictability by offering to start the process of renewing its environmental permit a year earlier than planned. \u201cThis represents a significant step on the part of our government, which now expects the company to proceed with the necessary investments,\u201d his office said in a statement. <\/p>\n

Glencore said it has been making efforts to lower emissions and that between 2022 and 2024, the average arsenic concentration in ambient air measured at the Horne legal monitoring station decreased by 46.5 per cent. Company documents state that it was about 44 ng\/m\u00b3 last year when measured at the plant\u2019s property limits.<\/p>\n

The Horne smelter operations and their effects on human health have been the subject of controversy for years. <\/p>\n

A Quebec Superior Court judge recently authorized a class-action lawsuit<\/a> on behalf of citizens who claim to have been affected by emissions from the smelter. The judge cited a 2022 report by Quebec\u2019s public health institute that indicated that past and current exposure to arsenic and cadmium concentrations from the facility could put residents at a higher risk of cancer.<\/p>\n

The global copper smelting industry is likely to face \u201ctougher challenges than ever\u201d this year because of widening supply-demand imbalances in the concentrates market, rising production risks at smelters, and unprecedented market uncertainty, according to Fastmarkets Global Ltd., a price data and forecasting firm for commodity markets.<\/p>\n

Mr. B\u00e9dard said Glencore is nevertheless willing to push on with Horne and its related operations under the right conditions. He said he believes Rio Tinto would share the same view. <\/p>\n

Glencore and London-based Rio Tinto RIO-N<\/a> confirmed last month that they were in preliminary discussions on an all-share merger. Under British takeover rules, Rio has until Thursday to make a formal offer for Glencore, but the companies can request an extension. <\/p>\n

With a file from The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Glencore’s plans to modernize the Horne smelter in Rouyn-Noranda included $300-million to reduce…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2813,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[123],"tags":[1064,1051,1065,1042,1040,1066,563,1039,1057,1058,1054,1041,1038,39,1062,457,1056,1049,132,1077,1043,1044,70,1052,1053,899,1067,1047,1072,1073,1075,1070,1074,1068,1071,1045,1060,1061,69,1059,1069,1050,789,1063,1055,1048,1046,1076],"class_list":{"0":"post-2812","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-glencore","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-arts-news","10":"tag-bc","11":"tag-breaking-news","12":"tag-breaking-news-video","13":"tag-british-columbia","14":"tag-canada","15":"tag-canada-news","16":"tag-canada-sports","17":"tag-canada-sports-news","18":"tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","19":"tag-canadian-breaking-news","20":"tag-canadian-news","21":"tag-economy","22":"tag-education","23":"tag-environment","24":"tag-federal-government","25":"tag-foreign-news","26":"tag-glencore","27":"tag-globe-and-mail","28":"tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","29":"tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","30":"tag-government","31":"tag-life-news","32":"tag-lifestyle","33":"tag-local-news","34":"tag-manitoba","35":"tag-national-news","36":"tag-new-brunswick","37":"tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","38":"tag-northwest-territories","39":"tag-nova-scotia","40":"tag-nunavut","41":"tag-ontario","42":"tag-pei","43":"tag-photos","44":"tag-political-news","45":"tag-political-opinion","46":"tag-politics","47":"tag-politics-news","48":"tag-quebec","49":"tag-sports-news","50":"tag-technology","51":"tag-travel","52":"tag-trudeau","53":"tag-us-news","54":"tag-world-news","55":"tag-yukon"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2812\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}