Pricey power, cheap copper keeps Continental mine shut Monday November 20, 10:30 AM EST NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Copper miner Montana Resources said rising electricity costs, a drop in copper prices and the onset of winter would likely keep its Continental Pit mine and concentrator in Butte, Montana, closed down for now.

"(Montana Resources') management regrets that current conditions have forced winterization of the mine, which, by necessity, makes reopening the mine in freezing weather conditions more difficult," it said in a news release on late Friday.

Continental, which produces about 40,000 tonnes of copper, 10 million lbs of molybdenum and one million ounces of silver annually, shut production on June 9 as power costs skyrocketed during the summer.

Montana Resources recalled over 100 workers in September for pre-stripping work at the mine in preparation for a restart, but later failed to obtain economically viable power supply, it said.

Daily power prices have increased from $106 per megawatt hour (MWh) to $226 per MWh, while spot copper prices have fallen about 9 cents a lb in the same period.

"The winterization activities should take approximately 1-2 weeks, at which time the mine will return to suspension status," it added.

About 20 to 25 staff members will stay on to perform necessary maintenance and security work while the company seeks affordable power.

Continental is jointly-owned by Montana Resources and Grupo Mexico , and supplies copper concentrates to smelters run by Grupo Mexico's Asarco Inc.

Grupo Mexico purchased Asarco for $2.25 billion last December, becoming the world's third biggest refined copper maker.

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-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), November 20, 2000