Australian-listed Aditya Birla Minerals Ltd has placed its Mt...

Australian-listed Aditya Birla Minerals Ltd has placed its Mt Gordon copper mine in the north-eastern state of Queensland on care and maintenance because of low copper prices, the company said on Wednesday.



Aditya said the project's mill would continue to process stockpiles of ore and was likely to produce 1,800t of copper-in-concentrate per month for about 12 months.



For the year ended September. 30, Mt Gordon produced 11,010t of copper-in-concentrate.



Aditya said it has also suspended crushing and stacking of ore at its Nifty oxide operations in Western Australia but would continue to leach copper until the leaching operation became uneconomic.



The oxide operation produced 3,605t of copper cathode in the year to September 30, the last period for which data was available.



Aditya Birla Minerals is 51%-owned by India's Hindalco Industries Ltd. Hindalco is Asia's largest integrated aluminium producer and a growing producer of copper metal from copper in concentrate.



Shares in Aditya Birla Minerals gained 2.6% to A$0.195 on Wednesday, but have slumped about 95% since listing in 2006.