Cominco Ltd said itwill permanently close its fertilizer plant at Kimberley,
British Columbia, in the latter half of May and 140 employees
will lose their jobs.
    It said the operation has been losing money for several
years, and lost seven mln dlrs in 1986.
    Cominco said the decision to close the plant was based on
high production costs, anticipated continued losses and excess
capacity for phosphate-based fertilizers. The plant produced
98,500 metric tonnes of ammonium phosphate fertilizer and
190,000 tonnes of sulphuric acid in 1986.
                                          
 Reuter
