* Likely to restart Scotia Zinc project in 2010

* Restart would take 3 to 6 months

By Chris Kelly

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA, March 2 (Reuters) - Canadian mining company Acadian Mining Corporation <ADA.TO> said operations at its Scotia Zinc Project at Gays River, Nova Scotia could come back on stream as early as this year, its president said.

"There is a high probability of a restart in 2010," Will Felderhof told Reuters on the sidelines of the 2010 International Zinc Conference on Tuesday.

Operations at the mine were halted on March 24, 2009 due to depressed zinc and lead prices in 2008.

In 2008, the mine produced 27,500 tonnes of zinc concentrate and about 9,000 tonnes of lead concentrate. At full capacity, the mine can produce between 30,000 to 40,000 tonnes of zinc and 10,000 to 17,000 tonnes of lead.

Acadian has kept the Scotia Zinc Project under care and maintenance status due to ongoing bouts of extreme market volatility.

"Obviously base metal prices as they stand right now are attractive, however the go-forward prices are something that we want to be fairly comfortable with," Felderhof said.

London Metal Exchange zinc prices <MZN3> have seen wild fluctuations already this year, peaking at $2,736 in early January, its highest since March 2008, and falling as low as $1,935 on Feb 5.

On Tuesday, zinc closed at $2,220 per tonne and battery material lead <MPB3> ended at $2,170 a tonne.

Felderhof said in the event of a restart, the mine would be up and running a lot sooner than other mine restarts.

"It's a turn-key project and a restart would be a 3 to 6 month time-frame, depending on the level of production," he said.

"The concentrates in that mine are really, really top quality. They are very high grade, but more importantly, very low in iron ... less than 1 percent iron. Not many mines in the world can produce that kind of concentrate," Felderhof added. (Editing by Rebekah Kebede)