http://www.noticiasdemineracao.com/

From yesterdays Brazilian mining news.

I have been searching on the net, In Brazil when collective holidays are given, this normally means that the company is having some problems. All salaries have to be paid in full and normally causes unease with the workers.

Mirabela Mineração, a subsidiary of Mirabela Nickel, have put employees on collective holidays in three areas of the company, in order to adjust production in relation to market demand. The information released yesterday (30) by the mining company. The only asset of the company is a nickel mine in Itagibá (BA).
The company said in e-mail sent to the NMB, which put collective holidays in the areas of Mine Operations , Mine Maintenance, Planning & Mine Control. The shutdowns will begin on August 14 and end on September 12.

The number of workers who will undergo the process has not yet been informed, and those who already have unused vacation will be prioritised.

The mining company, headquartered in the city of Itagibá, Bahia, currently has about 600 direct employees and 500 indirect jobs.

The miner, who complains about the low value of ton of nickel sulfide, since 2009 the nickel mine Santa Maria, located in Itagibá (BA). The project comprises of an open pit mine, concentration plant via flotation, which includes crushing, grinding, flotation, thickening and filtering to process the ore.

Mirabela produced 8,211 tonnes of nickel in concentrate in the first half of this year, which represents an increase of 44% compared to the same period last year.

The company's focus is the production of high quality nickel concentrate with 13% to 15% nickel. Annual production of concentrate is transported by road to the port of Ilheus (BA) and from there exported to Norilsk, Finland. With information from the local press.