Tara Mines is expected to tell its unions today it is optimistic the Navan plant could reopen next year as zinc prices recover from their present all-time low.
However, the unions are likely to press for a deadline when the company will begin taking back its 700-strong work force, or else offer a redundancy package.
The Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Mr Dempsey, is also expected to meet both sides over the next few days for exploratory talks. But the dispute is likely to be referred to the Labour Relations Commission before any progress is made.
The fundamental problem is that zinc prices are now at $7.40, the lowest in 25 years and the lowest in real terms ever. The mine has been losing €3 million a month and the figure rose to €4 million in October.
Last week the unions asked management to explore options such as a three-day week, undertaking a refurbishment programme during the closure and continue tunnelling development shafts into newly discovered ore bodies.
Phased lay-offs begin at the end of this week, and most employees will be laid off by the end of the month. A SIPTU branch secretary, Mr Christy McQuillan, said local management had agreed to take proposals back to the parent company, Outokompu, but he was "not overly optimistic" about the response.
He was concerned that the current closure could be prolonged. That was why the unions wanted the LRC involved. "Either people are taken back or they are made redundant", he said.
The human resources manager, Mr John Kelly, said he understood the unions' concern for a safety net but the company did not have funds at present for expensive severance packages.
"This is not a rationalisation, this is not a restructuring situation. The mine will reopen when prices recover. There is a future for Tara Mines and we want people to stay", he said.
He believed the recession would be short-lived, and refurbishment might begin in as little as three months' time. Meanwhile Tara Mines and Navan face their fifth successive Christmas with a major question mark over the plant's future.