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Xstrata Copper Canada to rehabilitate land in the Sandy Beach area (PDF)

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Gaspé, June 5, 2008

Xstrata Copper Canada will undertake major rehabilitation work on properties in the Sandy Beach area of the port of Gaspé in Quebec. The residential, commercial and industrial properties targeted are located within or adjacent to the Gaspé industrial park of Sandy Beach.
 
The company is voluntarily planning the rehabilitation work further to the demolition of structures and soil rehabilitation in Murdochville, after the smelter was permanently closed in 2002.  From 1956 - 2002, Falconbridge Ltd. (formerly Noranda), acquired by Xstrata in 2006, received copper concentrate in Gaspé for processing at the Murdochville smelter.
 
Xstrata Copper Canada has submitted the documentation required to proceed with the voluntary rehabilitation project to the Quebec Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks, and the submission is now under review.  "The work will affect the lots of 55 residential property owners and 24 commercial and industrial property owners whose soils show concentrations of metals, mainly copper. The excavated soils will be safely reused as cover material in Xstrata Copper Canada's tailings sites in Murdochville and replaced by soils that meet the relevant standards," said Jacques Moulins, General Manager, Site Environment & Rehabilitation for Xstrata Copper Canada.
 
Xstrata Copper Canada has engaged experts to carry out the remediation work, including the soil sampling, after receiving authorization from property owners. Samples were analyzed in certified laboratories that meet standards set by the Quebec government. 
 
"We plan to carry out the rehabilitation work on the residential properties this summer and will do all we can to minimise any disruption to residents. Fortunately, we can draw on our experience in Murdochville, which is one of the biggest remediation projects of its type in Quebec," added Moulins.  
 
Approximately 485 properties have already been successfully rehabilitated in Murdochville. In total, Xstrata Copper Canada will have spent some C$  40 million in the region on the rehabilitation of closed metallurgical operations. 
 
Xstrata Contacts
Louis-Philippe Gariépy                                                                Emily Russell
W: + 1 514 645 2311, ext. 2162                                                 W: + 56 2 478 2204
E:  lpgariepy@xstratacopper.ca                                                    M: + 56 9 8528 1650
                                                                                               E: erussell@xstratacopper.cl                
ABOUT XSTRATA PLC
Xstrata is a global diversified mining group, listed on the London and Swiss Stock Exchanges, with its headquarters in Zug, Switzerland. Xstrata’s businesses maintain a meaningful position in seven major international commodity markets: copper, coking coal, thermal coal, ferrochrome, nickel, vanadium and zinc, with additional exposures to platinum group metals, gold, cobalt, lead and silver, recycling facilities and a suite of global technology products, many of which are industry leaders. The Group's operations and projects span 18 countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Germany, New Caledonia, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, South Africa, Spain, Tanzania, the USA and the UK. Xstrata employs approximately 56,000 people, including contractors.
ABOUT XSTRATA COPPER
Headquartered in Brisbane, Xstrata Copper is one of the commodity business units within the major global diversified mining group Xstrata plc. Its operations and projects span eight countries: Australia, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Canada, the USA, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea. Its operations are administered by five separate divisions, based close to the mining operations, namely the North Queensland, Minera Alumbrera, North Chile, Southern Peru and Canada divisions. It also has a recycling business (Xstrata Recycling) with plants in the United States and offices in Canada and Asia. 
Xstrata Copper is the fourth largest global copper producer with annual attributable production capacity of over one million tonnes.