THUNDER BAY — The CEO of Impala Canada has promised workers they will be informed well ahead of any termination of operations at the Lac des Iles palladium mine north of the city.
Tim Hill delivered the message in a memo sent to the workforce following a recent visit to the mine, where he said he had productive conversations with staff about the mine's near-term outlook.
He said Impala Canada is not in financial distress, and in fact is "in good financial health as a company."
In 2021, the mine reportedly had a projected life of at least 11 years.
But in 2023, Impala cut about eight per cent of its overall workforce of approximately 800 due to lower market prices for palladium.
Analysts for UBS, a Swiss-based investment bank and financial services company, recently predicted 2025 will continue to be a challenging year for the metal in the global market.
Newswatch asked Impala on Monday for the most recent projected lifespan for the mine, but a spokesperson said only that the planning process is still underway.
In his note to employees, Hill said the company currently has a team "optimizing" its business plan for the next fiscal year.
"More details on this will be forthcoming when the planning is completed and approved in late June. You can expect to hear back from me at that time," he wrote.
"There will be no unplanned or abrupt shutdown of operations. Any change to our life of mine will be communicated to the workforce and the union well in advance of the end of commercial production."
Hill added that no immediate layoffs are planned.
"We need our workforce now more than ever to keep us operating safely and reliably...The LDI mine has never run more efficiently than it does today. It is for this reason alone that the mine continues to operate."
Most of the mine's workers are represented by the Steelworkers union, which had not responded to a request from Newswatch for comment at the time of publication.
