UPDATE 1-Canada's Imperial Metals latest to shutter some copper production

(Adds company comment, context)
VANCOUVER, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Canada's Imperial Metals Corp
III.TO on Wednesday suspended pit operations at its
Huckleberry copper mine in British Columbia, becoming the latest
in the industry to curtail production after a 50 percent slump
in the metal's price in the past five years.
Imperial said it would lay off 100 of its 260 workers at
Huckleberry, retaining the rest to mill stockpiled ore.

Milling the stockpile is just a temporary measure expected
to last around three months, Imperial spokesman Steve Robertson
said.
He declined to speculate what would happen at the end of
three months but did say the mine needed a "substantial"
increase in the copper price and an additional drop in the value
of the Canadian dollar before it could re-start pit mining.
A weaker dollar reduces costs and increases margins for
miners, whose output is sold in U.S. dollars.
Vancouver-based Imperial has a 50 percent stake in the
Huckleberry mine, with Mitsubishi Materials Corp 5711.T , Dowa
Mining Co Ltd, Furukawa Co Ltd 5715.T and others owning the
rest.
Robertson also declined to give a forecast for production
from the stockpile. Imperial had forecast the Huckleberry mine
would produce 44 million pounds of copper in 2015.
Robertson said Imperial had no plans to curtail operations
at its other two copper mines, Red Chris and Mount Polley, which
are both in British Columbia.
"Red Chris is a much lower-cost operation (than
Huckleberry)," he said. "Mount Polley has a lot more leverage to
pull as it has higher grade portions which provide a little more
flexibility."
Huckleberry is expected to have cash costs of $2.31 a pound
in 2016, RBC Capital Markets analyst Sam Crittenden said in a
note to clients.
Copper was last trading at $2.10 a pound.
Copper miners around the world, including big producers such
as Freeport-McMoRan Inc FCX.N and Glencore Plc GLEN.L , have
been cutting production in recent months as worries about
slowing demand from China fuels the biggest market rout in
years.
Imperial's shares were down 4 percent at C$6.33 on the
Toronto Stock Exchange on Wednesday, in line with other copper
miners as the metal's price hit a two-week low.