Teck Cominco still trying to finish off zinc talks

(In U.S. dollars)

TORONTO, May 1 (Reuters) - Teck Cominco (TCKb.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) has concluded the bulk of its contract terms on zinc treatment charges, or TCs, shipments, but still has a few contracts outstanding, a company official said on Thursday.

"We've got the majority of our deals done both in Europe and in Asia. We've settled as recently as late last week additional business under long term arrangements," Andrew Stonkus, Teck Cominco's vice-president of concentrate marketing, told Reuters.

He would not comment on any terms, or with whom, the company -- the world's No. 2 zinc miner -- is still negotiating.

Smelter fees or treatment charges are the fees miners pay smelters to turn their zinc concentrates into metal.

Belgium's Nyrstar, (NYR.BR: Quote, Profile, Research) the world's top zinc smelter, said on Wednesday its own negotiations to set smelter fees were taking longer than foreseen. The company said it has settled a couple of contracts at $350 per tonne based on a $2,500 a tonne zinc futures price MZN3.

On Nyrstar, "I just can't comment if we have a settlement or not with them," said Stonkus.

TCs in general are higher this year, he said, which coupled with other input costs and currency fluctuations, has put pressure on mining companies.

"To say TCs have gone up 10 percent, I guess, is not an unreasonable rough estimate, and that's significant for a mine," he said, adding that the "clock is ticking" on concluding Teck's negotiations.