MONTREAL, March 31, 2026, 08:09 EDT
Quebec is moving to give Glencore more time to meet tighter arsenic, a toxic metal, limits at its Horne smelter, with proposed changes to a provincial bill pushing a new ceiling to 2029, Canadian Mining Journal reported on Tuesday. Bloomberg reported a day earlier that Ottawa is weighing about C$150 million ($108 million) in support for new pollution-control systems. 1
That matters because Horne is Canada’s only copper smelter and accounts for about 16% of North America’s annual smelting capacity, according to Bloomberg. Glencore has said that if the Rouyn-Noranda site is wound down, its Montreal refinery would also be at risk and about 3,200 direct and indirect jobs could be hit. 2
The plant does more than process mined concentrate. Horne is one of the few North American sites able to treat copper concentrate and electronic scrap, and Glencore says it is the only Canadian outlet for copper scrap from lithium-ion battery recycling. 2
The outline under discussion would delay a new arsenic limit of 15 nanograms per cubic metre — a measure of how much arsenic is allowed in the air — from 2027 to 2029 and keep the plant’s operating permit in place until March 2033, Canadian Mining Journal said. Glencore spokesman Fabrice de Dongo called the amendment “an encouraging development” but said the company would not comment further while the legislative process continues. 1
Glencore froze nearly C$1 billion of planned investment in its Quebec copper operations in February, including about C$300 million earmarked for emissions cuts, after talks with Quebec hit an impasse. The company said then that without the upgrades, Horne may be unable to meet targets that start in March 2027. 3
At the time, Chief Operating Officer Marc Bédard said Glencore had “worked in good faith and explored every option” but lacked the predictable operating rules needed to approve spending on that scale. The company also said it remained open to financial mechanisms that would share some of the near-term risk. 3
But the relief plan is far from settled. Quebec public health officials warned that pushing back the tougher deadline would prolong exposure to toxic metals for residents around the plant, with children and pregnant women carrying the biggest risk. 1
Glencore has tried to show the emissions trend is moving in the right direction. In a March 26 statement, it said average arsenic concentrations at Horne’s official monitoring station fell 46.5% between 2022 and 2024, and that 99% of Rouyn-Noranda’s urban area recorded arsenic levels at or below 15 ng/m3 in 2024. 4
Even so, the proposed 15 ng/m3 cap would still sit five times above Quebec’s standard safe level, Bloomberg reported. Charles Cooper, head of copper research at Wood Mackenzie, said Horne has been “absolutely instrumental” to North America’s copper market and warned that losing it would strip the region of an ecosystem for recovering critical metals. 2
The dispute lands as copper becomes a bigger prize across mining. Reuters reported in February that BHP and Rio Tinto are leaning harder on copper for growth, while Glencore’s own talks to combine with Rio fell apart earlier this year after the companies failed to agree terms. 5
For now, the immediate question is whether Quebec turns the amendment into law and whether Ottawa puts cash behind the cleanup plan. Industry Minister Melanie Joly’s office told Bloomberg the smelter is a “strategic asset” in Canada’s industrial base, but without a deal on funding and rules, Glencore has already warned the site would have to be wound down. 2
