MDMW-Zinc&Lead11

8/14/2019 MDMW-Zinc&Lead11

1/16

WORLD ZINC REPORT

14 International Mining JANUARY 2007

Galvanized for actionAs world demand for zinc grows, particularly in Asia, zinc inventories are expected to hitcritically low levels in the second quarter of 2007, equal to two days of consumption.A high price forecast is expected to cause a shift in market attitudes since zinc has exceed-ed the $4,000/t price barrier. Sally Higgins investigates whether the supply-demanddeficit will continue to widen, examines some projects and considers relevant technologies

As a result of low stockpiles, the zinc

price forecast for 2007 has risen

from $1.48 to $2.06/lb according to

Scotia Capitals recently updated zinc

outlook. The International Zinc and Lead

Study Group expects global demand for

refined zinc metal to increase by 2.6% to

11.35 Mt in 2007. Chinese demand is

forecast to rise by 4.7% in 2006 and 6.9%

in 2007, at which time it will account for

30% of total world zinc usage. After falling

steeply in 2005, demand in the USA is

expected to rise by 7% in 2006 but to

remain flat in 2007. Similarly in Europe, it is

anticipated that demand will rise by 3.4% in

2006 but remain unchanged in 2007.

It is predicted that world zinc mine output

will increase by 7.3% to 11.12 Mt in 2007,

influenced by a number of mine openings,

re-opening and expansions. Production is

expected to rise in a number of countries,

most notably Australia, China, Bolivia,

Canada, India, Kazakhstan and Portugal. An

expected increase in global refined zinc

metal output of 4.9% in 2007 will primarily

be driven by expansions in China where an

increase of 10% is forecast.

Additional production resulting from the

commissioning of Hindustan Zincs new

170,000 t/y capacity Chanderiya refinery in

2005 caused an increase in Indian output of

44% in 2006. Significant rises are also

anticipated in Kazakhstan and South Korea.

McArthur River Mining plans to convert from

underground to open pit at the McArthur River mine.


2/16
http://www.outokumputechnology.com/


3/16

WORLD ZINC REPORT


The increased availability of concentrates in

2006 and 2007, combined with rapidly

expanding smelter capacity, is expected to

result in a decrease in Chinese net imports

of refined zinc both this year and next.

Exports from the CIS are expected to rise as

production in the region is expanded.

Industry experts predict that demand for

zinc will exceed supply until at least 2010.

Anders Haker, Chief Financial Officer ofLundin Mining, commented at Metal

Bulletins zinc seminar, China and India are

at a very early stage of development, and I

assume these two economies will follow the

same pattern as consumption of zinc in the

US. Haker forecasts that Indias zinc

consumption will increase considerably from

comparatively low levels of about 0.5 kg per

person. US per capita consumption is 3.5 kg

and South Koreas is 8.8 kg. By 2010 it is

estimated that China will consume 2-4 Mt

and India will consume 1 Mt. The disparity

between supply and demand is illustrated by

Hakers forecasted supply increase from

2006 to 2009 of 1.8 Mt, clearly

insufficient to close the gap.

Mount Burgess Mining

believes that world zinc output

would have to grow by 22%

on this year's production

estimate of 10.6 Mt to meet

expected demand by 2010.

Speaking at an African-

focused mining conference in

Perth on September 7,

Chairperson Nigel Forrester

said that new mine start-ups,

production upgrades and mine

closures would have to fill the

expected shortfall of 2.38 Mt. He said that

China would remain the driver for higher

zinc production globally.

If China increases consumption by an

average 345,000 t/y to 4.8 Mt total by

2010, and the rest of the world increases

consumption by a modest 2%, total world

production within three years must reach 13

Mt, Forrester said. He continued that stocks

and output would be at critical levels byearly in 2008.

The decline has been evident over recent

years with London Metals Exchange stocks of

780,000 t in April 2004 dwindling 606,500 t

in just 27 months to 173,500 t by just a few

weeks ago. He said it represented an

average daily decrease of 728 t/d over the

27 months and that it would worsen to

907 t/d this year.

Almost half of all demand for zinc is for

galvanizing steel to prevent it from rusting.

The largest consumer and producer of steel

is currently China, owing mainly to expanding

infrastructure. China accounts for 25% of

world zinc demand, which is one of the

contributing factors to the increase in the

price of zinc from $1,380/t in 2005 to$4,000/t in 2006.

When compared to other base metals, zinc

has a relatively low level of supply from scrap

due to the difficulty in salvaging zinc layers

from steel. Out of a total supply of 10.5 Mt,

only 500,000 t of zinc are from scrap recovery.

National Australia Bank (NAB) has indicated

that speculative pressures will remain in

2007 and prices could continue to rise.

Whilst speculative demand has strengthened,

supply has not changed much due to the

long lead-time in getting new projects up

and running. Supply increases are forecast

for 2007, although metal prices will remain

high as the supply response

continues to be impacted by

higher costs of machinery, raw

materials and labour. NAB

suggests that the fundamentals

for zinc are the most favourable

of all the metals as demand

continues to exceed supply.

Canaccord Adams notes that

zinc oxide ores were the

primary source of zinc prior to

the development of the flotation

and smeltingprocesses for sulphide

ores. With the modern development

of SX-EW technology and the

The feasibility study was completed in May 2006

for the Wolverine project. Currently, a review and

optimization study is underway and Yukon Zinc is

on a path to advance the Wolverine project to

construction in 2007 and production in 2008.

A new world leader

As IM went to press, on December 11, Umicore and Zinifex announced that they had signed a Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MOU)

with the objective of combining their respective zinc smelting and alloying businesses, leading to the creation of "the worlds pre-emi-

nent zinc metal producer with operations on four continents.

The Zinifex assets to be contributed are the Hobart (Australia), Port Pirie (Australia), Clarksville (USA) and Budel (Netherlands) smelting and

alloying operations as well as its shareholdings in Australian Refined Alloys (Australia) and Genesis Alloys (China). The Umicore assets to be con-

tributed are the Balen (Belgium), Overpelt (Belgium), Auby (France) and GM Metal (France) smelting and alloying operations as well as its share-

holdings in Padaeng Industry (Thailand) , Galva 45 (France), Umicore Yunnan Zinc Alloys (China) and Fhl China (China). Combined, these enti-

ties produce some 1.2 Mt/y of zinc and zinc alloys. The jointly owned company is to be incorporated in Belgium, have its global headquarters

in London and have regional support centres in Melbourne (Australia) and Balen (Belgium).

Greg Gailey, CEO, commented that this gives Zinifexs "refining and smelting business the opportunity to flourish as part of a stronger more

diversified global enterprise while at the same time enabling us to focus more clearly on our ambitions to vigorously grow our mining business.

The two companies are committed to working together to complete final due diligence and structuring discussions over the next few months

with a view to signing a binding Business Combination and Sales Agreement (BCSA) by the end of the first quarter of calendar 2007. Subject

to required presentation to the works councils in Europe and the receipt of necessary regulatory and shareholder approvals, the new venture is

targeted to come into existence in the third quarter of calendar 2007.


4/16
http://www.trsa.com/


5/16

modernization of the Walz technology for

treatment of zinc oxides, commercial interest

is expanding for non-sulphide zinc deposits.

The interest is largely the same as that for

acid leachable copper deposits. Recovery

using SX-EW requires lower energy, ideally

the process is environmentally simple, and

generating a final saleable zinc product cuts

out the costs associated with transportation

of concentrates and smelter charges. These

positives are contrasted by a few negatives

including a process that typically recovers a

single metal versus multi metal recovery

using flotation followed by pyrometallurgy.

Up front capital for zinc oxide operations

can be above average. One of the best

examples of a modern, successful zinc oxideoperation is Anglo Americans Skorpion mine

in Namibia. In September 2000, Anglo made

a production decision on Skorpion. Based on

capital requirements of $454 million the

operation now yields just about 150,000 t/y

of zinc at cash costs below $0.25/lb. This

makes it one of the lowest cost zinc

operations on the planet.

Australian expansionXstrata Zinc has successfully completed the

first stage of the project to upgrade and

expand the Mount Isa zinc concentrator. This

first stage of the project comprised increasing

the operating reliability of the old plant

through the installation of a new crushing

circuit and ore feed system, an enhanced

maintenance programme with special

emphasis on the heavy medium plant and

the recent commissioning of a new zinc

filter plant. This project also included a low

cost expansion of throughput capacity by an

additional 1.5 Mt/y of ore through the

installation of a parallel second hand milling

and flotation circuit acquired at a nominal

cost. The combined effect of the increased

operating reliability of the old plant plus the

new parallel circuit will increase the nominal

feed capacity of the concentrator to 6.5 Mt/y

of ore, which represents an improvement of

more than 40% over the feed rate achieved

in the first nine months of 2006.

The Lady Loretta zinc project, a joint

venture between Xstrata and Scarborough

Minerals, in northwest Queensland, is

currently the subject of a preliminary feasibility

study into a proposed 1 Mt/y mine and

concentrator. Xstrata has substantial zinc

mining and processing operations 150 km to

the south of Lady Loretta at Mount Isa. The

total resources have been reported as 13.6

Mt grading 17% Zn, 5.9% Pb and 97 g/t

Ag.

Jabiru Metals says it is well on the way

to becoming Australias next zinc and copper

producer with the Jaguar project constructionon track to begin concentrate production in

the June quarter 2007. Refurbishment of

Cadjebut and Black Cat plants is nearing

completion and detailed engineering is

complete. Jaguar lies northwest of Leonora,

Western Australia. Current reserves are stat-

ed as 1.6 Mt at 3.1% Cu, 11.7% Zn, 0.72%

Pb and 120g/t Ag.

Terramin Australia operates the Angas

zinc project, 2 km outside the small town of

Strathalbyn, 60 km from Adelaide, South

Australia. The orebody outcrops under a

limestone quarry in a rural zone containing

two waste landfill dumps and effluent

treatment ponds. Current zinc resources in

three shoots are 3.04 Mt. Mining reserves

are currently 2.2 Mt. Feasibility studies and a

financial model for a 400,000 t/y under-

ground operation were completed in July

2006. Production is on track to start in

2007, producing 30,000 t of zinc and

10,000 t of lead, with significant gold and

silver credits.

Xstrata Zincs wholly-owned, McArthur

River Mining (MRM), has had approval for

its A$110 million development to convert

from underground to open pit operations at

the McArthur River mine located 900 km

southeast of Darwin, Northern Territory. The

approved open pit development will enable

MRM to continue to access one of the

worlds largest known deposits of zinc and

lead. It will increase annual ore throughput

from 1.6 to 1.8 Mt to maintain current levels

of concentrate production of around

320,000 t/y, and extend the life of mine by

25 years.MRM exports feed to smelters in Poland,

Romania, Japan and China, producing 70%

of the worlds zinc-lead bulk concentrate.

MRM opened in 1995 and in August 2005,

MRM announced its intention to convert the

mine from an underground to an open-pit

operation to enable production to continue.

Since April 2006, MRMs production has

WORLD ZINC REPORT


2002 2003 2004 2005 Jan-Aug 2005 Jan-Aug 2006

Europe 0.90 1.01 1.00 1.04 0.69 0.71

Africa 0.24 0.26 0.35 0.41 0.28 0.27

America 3.76 3.74 3.57 3.52 2.40 2.27

Asia 2.55 3.06 3.51 3.81 2.48 2.70

Oceania 1.44 1.45 1.30 1.33 0.89 0.87

World 8.89 9.52 9.73 10.11 6.73 6.82

Source: International Lead and Zinc Study Group

Zinc: mine production (Mt)

Wolfden Resources High Lake property in

Nunavut, Canada, includes two open pit

mines, one underground mine and a mill.


6/16
http://www.sandvik.com/


7/16


8/16
http://www.mdl.co.uk/


9/16

Izok and High Lake deposits. Izok hosts an

indicated resource of 14.4 Mt at grades of

2.52% Cu, 1.28% Pb and 12.94% Zn, with

71 g/t Ag. High Lake has an indicated

resource of 17.25 Mt grading 2.25% Cu,

0.31% Pb, 3.35% Zn and 69.7 g/t Ag.

Canadian Zincs Prairie Creek mine in the

Northwest Territories reopened in May 2006.

The Prairie Creek project includes a

partially developed underground mine with

an existing 1,000 t/d mill and related

infrastructure and equipment. The property

hosts a major mineral deposit containing a

historically estimated resource of 3.6 Mt

(measured and indicated) grading 11.8% Zn,

9.7% Pb, 0.3% Cu and 141.5 g/t Ag and

8.3 Mt (inferred) grading 12.8% Zn, 10.5%

Pb, 0.5% Cu and 169.2 g/t Ag.Full commercial production is expected in

mid-2007 at Breakwater Resources Langlois

mine in northwestern Quebec. A feasibility

study to reopen the mine, including a

technical solution for the ore pass problem,

was completed by SRK Consulting. The

project economics were reviewed again by

Breakwater late in 2005, concluding that,

based on a life-of-mine average price for

zinc of $0.53/lb, a copper price of $1.05/lb,

a silver price of $6.59/oz and an exchange

rate of US$0.80 per C$1.00 the project had

an internal rate of return of 16.6% based

on mining and milling the proven and

probable mineral reserves of 3.3 Mt at head

grades of 10.8% Zn, 0.8% Cu, 0.1 g/t Au

and 52.1 g/t Ag.

In 2005 HudBay initiated the re-opening

of its wholly-owned Balmat mine and

concentrator after completion of a feasibility

study. The mines concentrate production

will be treated at the Canadian Electrolytic

Zinc (CEZ) refinery near Montreal, some 158 km

from the mine. Balmat includes a 1,000 m

deep shaft, underground excavations to

access the ore zones, extensive mining

equipment and a 5,000 t/d ore concentrator.

Recovery of zinc to concentrate is expected

to be about 96%, producing a concentrate

containing roughly 55.5% Zn. At full

production in 2008, the mine is expected to

produce some 60,000 t of zinc metal in

concentrate and up to 40% of the Balmat

mine annual concentrate production, over

the life of the mine, may be swapped for

Xstrata concentrate and treated at HudBays

zinc plant in Manitoba.

Angus and Ross (A&R) has received the

Wardell Armstrong International (WAI)

resource report following four months of

drilling this summer at its Black Angel prospect

in Greenland. The drilling programme

established at least 1.9 Mt of additional

mineral resources around the Black Angel

mine. This additional mineral resource does

not include the 1.57 Mt of proven and

probable reserves of an average combinedZn/Pb grade of 21.6% that remain in the

mine, as disclosed in WAIs November 2005

prefeasibility report.

The Directors of A&R are considering a

number of options to re-open the mine.

They say that, subject to the availability of

project finance, it now seems likely that the

original A&R mining plan to develop the

project could be viable. This plan was to

construct roads and tunnels to connect the

old plant site and ship-loading facility with

the new satellite discoveries (Ark, Glacier,

and others yet to be drilled) and to re-establish

access to the former mine. A&R intends to

establish a pre-treatment plant in order to

upgrade the known high-grade Black Angel

mineralization. It would then be possible to

export pre-concentrated mineral to an existing

mill, or to re-establish a mill on site dependant

on the size of the mineral reserves and the

relative economics of the options. It is of

great benefit to the overall project economics

that a good part of the new resources at the

Glacier and Ark zones can be mined by open

pit methods. Fuller details of the project were

published in IM Project News, December 10.

South American assetsProduction has started at Pan American

Silvers 55%-owned San Vicente silver-zinc

mine in the Potos department of the

Bolivian Andes. More than 20 bonanza type

silver-zinc veins are known to occur over an

area of 1.5 km on surface and extend to at

least 200 m in depth. Feasibility analysis and

engineering is continuing on a plan to

expand mine production and build a newmill on the property.

Commercial production has begun at

Fortuna Silver Mine's Caylloma silver-zinc-

lead mine in southern Peru. Ore is currently

WORLD ZINC REPORT


2002 2003 2004 2005 Jan-Aug 2005 Jan-Aug 2006

Europe 2.75 2.79 2.82 2.68 1.78 1.88

Africa 0.19 0.17 0.19 0.20 0.14 0.13

America 2.02 1.95 2.12 1.90 1.27 1.34

Asia 4.15 4.66 5.24 5.60 3.60 3.77

Oceania 0.27 0.27 0.26 0.26 0.18 0.18

World 9.38 9.84 10.65 10.63 6.96 7.30

Source: International Lead and Zinc Study Group

Zinc: metal consumption (Mt)

The mill at Caylloma has a capacity of 700 t/d,

which Fortuna aims to achieve in May 2007.


10/16
http://www.flygt.com/http://www.flygt.com/http://www.flygt.com/


11/16

WORLD ZINC REPORT


being processed at a rate of 500 t/d. An

increase in mill throughput to 700 t/d is

expected in May 2007. Fortuna made its

first shipment of silver-lead and zinc

concentrates from Caylloma at the

beginning of November 2006.

Apogee Minerals has begun planning and

implementing operational improvements at

the 100% owned La Solucion mine located

17 km from Bolivias capital city, La Paz. It is

also in the midst of a 33,500 m

diamond drilling programme to delineate

potential mineral resources at its Bolivian

silver-lead-zinc projects where exploration

programmes in the first half of 2006 located

Bolidens Tara Mines in Ireland is the biggest zinc producer in

Europe and the sixth largest zinc mine in the world. It became

part of Boliden Group on January 1, 2004. It is a high cost pro-

ducer so over the past three years the new management has been find-

ing ways to cut costs.

One very successful change has been in the concentrator where

Tara was struggling with two different filter systems which were

costing too much in both energy and maintenance time.

The solution has been two new Metso Minerals VPA pressure

filters in the zinc circuit. These two are of the size VPA 1530-60,

which have 60 chambers with a 1.5 m chamber frame size with 30

mm deep chambers. Concentrate slurry is pumped from the zinc

thickener to a surge tank and thence to the Metso filters. Thomas

Sundqvist, Mill Manager at Tara, explained that in Sweden, Bolidens

mines had good experience with these filters, and in fact had helped

developed the system. Each unit goes through five cycles an hour,

for a total throughput of 90 t.

These units were installed in August 2006. Calculating for the sav-

ings in fuel, maintenance labour and downtime, Tara expects to pay

for them in less than two years. The lead circuit still uses a vacuum

filter, but that is to be replaced this year by two more Metso

Minerals VP pressure filters.

These VP pressure filters bring together high performance and a

high degree of automation at low cost. They feature:

x Light weight construction, with machined polypro-pylene filter

chambersx Compact design with pulling hydraulic cylinders for a reduced

footprint

x A one-minute filter cloth change operation

x Available in several pressure ratings for differ-ent applications

x Few moving parts for low maintenance and high availability.

Metso supplies the complete system:

x Slurry thickener with automatic discharge

x Feed slurry buffer tank

x Flow and density meters for filter feed

x Slurry feed pump and cloth wash water pump and tank

x Compressed air system

x Product weighing system for production monitoring

x Filter cloth damage detector

x Process controller for complete automatic operation

x Service platform

The Pressure Filter is the heart of the system and is available in two

basic versions VPA and VPC.VPA means Vertical Plate Airblow and

designates the filter with compressed air dewatering of the filter

cake. VPC means Vertical Plate Compression and is the unit with

high pressure membrane dewatering of the filter cake.

Filter Cloth Support

Upper Rails

Cloth Wash Spray Bars

Parallel Hydraulic Cylinders

Filter Cake Discharge Chute

Moving Head

Load Cells

Fixed Head

Cost savings filter through

The operating pressure

of VPA units is usually

7-10 bar and they are

the standard machine

for dewatering mineral

concentrates.

Membranes are inflated

with compressed air.

Cycle time can often be

as short as 6 minutes.


12/16

Powerful and productive

NEW TA35 and TA40 Building on technology New Design = improved operator comfort

High power and payload = increased productivity and return on invested capital

Oil cooled disc brakes on all axles = reduced ownership costs and increased service intervals

Dual transmission and engine retardation = increased safety and control

Terex ConstructionTEL: +44 (0) 1698 732 121FAX: +44 (0) 1698 503 200

[email protected]

Copyright Terex Corporation 2006 Terex is a registered trademark of Terex Corporation in the United States of America and many other countries
http://www.terex.com/http://www.terex.com/http://www.terex.com/


13/16


14/16

Operations in:

Australia Czech Republic

Germany

India

UK

Ukraine USA

Poland

Russia

Slovakia

Spain South Africa

Switzerland

Peoples Republic of China

Solutions from Materials Technology

Minova International Ltd.

26 Fleetwood House

Cromwell Business Park

Chipping Norton

Oxon OX7 5SR

England

Contact +44 1608 649 355 or visit our websitewww.minovainternational.com

Unearthing the right solution

Fluent in the international language of miningOur engineers have one overriding aim: to develop, refine and implement

the innovative systems that improve safety at the same time as increasing pro-

ductivity and cost efficiency. Day in and day out, they delve deeper to discover

more about the problems Minova customers face and the products needed to

overcome them.

Our ability to integrate local knowledge with global resources allows us to call

upon the very best people almost anywhere in the world where their expertise

is most needed. Wherever they go, they speak the same language as their cus-

tomers the international language of mining. Its this fluency gained over

three decades that allows us to go further by challenging convention and

uncovering the very best solutions.

Roof bolting Membranes

Ventilation seals Backfill

Injection resins Roadway support
http://www.minovainternational.com/


15/16

The measured and indicated resource is

223.8 Mt at 1.63% Cu equivalent and an

inferred resource of 310.3 Mt at 1.47% Cu

equivalent. The projected mine life is at

least 20 years producing up to 50,000 t/y

copper cathode, 1,850 t/y cobalt cathode,

23,000 t/y zinc sulphate and possibly

100,000 t/y manganese carbonate.

Exploring AfricaKumba Resources has asked the DRC to

guarantee its property rights before the

company restarts its Kipushi lead-zinc-silver


WORLD ZINC REPORT

Maturity of ZINCEX SX

Gustavo Daz, Research & Development Division Director of

Tcnicas Reunidas, Spain reoports that after three years of

developing studies, engineering and construction; the verti-

cally integrated Skorpion Zinc mine and refinery has been smoothly

producing SHG zinc since the first of May 2003. Tcnicas Reunidas

(TR) proprietary modified ZINCEX process is the core technology

used in the refinery. Ramping up took about one year and a half.

The Skorpion plant is currently feeding the market with a steady

150,000 t/y of SHG zinc. From the technical point of view, he says,

three years of successful operation of the Skorpion plant is the con-

firmation of the strong maturity reached by ZINCEX solvent extraction

technology. A conceptual process diagram is depicted in the figure,

which can be applied to any impure raw material thanks to the ultra-

purification ability of the solvent extraction circuit; which separates

the dirty leaching upstream unit from the

extremely sensitive to impurities electrowin-

ning unit.

The process has demonstrated its capaci-

ty to get rid of all the impurities: chlorides

and fluorides, alkaline metals such calcium

and magnesium, and the standard heavy

metals such as cobalt, nickel, copper and

cadmium, which impair EW performance.

SX has proven its reliability and robustness

as well as it flexibility to cope with wide

oscillations in Pregnant Liquor Solution (PLS)

concentrations.There are several mining projects under

development which have considered

ZINCEX SX as core technology to treat oxide

materials of the same family of Skorpion

ore. Mineralogy is based on silicated, carbonated, oxidized and

hydrated materials such as sauconite, willemite, hemimorphite,

smithsonite, zincite, hydrozincite, etc. Those ores are unable to be

treated by the conventional roasting-leaching-EW process due to low

grade, silica, solid-liquid separation and impurity problems.

In Mexico there are two projects under development. These are

Sierra Mojada in which ZINCEX SX has been implemented to produce

150,000 t/y of SHG zinc from a concentrated oxide ore and Terrazas

in which 75,000 t/y of SHG zinc will be produced from a PLS coming

from heap leaching and a copper SX plant.

In Iran there are two projects as well. The first is Zanjan zinc refin-

ery, which is fed with oxide ore from Angouran mine to produce

100,000 t/y zinc. The second is Mehdiabad mine and zinc refinery for

a capacity in the range of 300,000 t/y zinc of which a quarter will

come from oxide and three quarters from sulphide ores. It is note-

worthy in that ZINCEX will be used for zinc recovery and purification

of the PLS from the sulphide zinc concentrate leaching line.

There are some more projects worldwide that are considering this

technology. Spain, Brazil, Turkey, Peru and India each host one at least.

The ZINCEX SX process produces the highest quality electrolyte

reported all over the world, Daz explains. It shows the lowest con-

centration of every impurity compared with existing information of

electrolytes coming from conventional process. Magnesium report-

ed at several g/litre is at the mg/litre level in ZINCEX. Furthermore

ZINCEX electrolyte is gypsum-, chlorine- and fluorine-free. As a con-

sequence this electrolyte is the most suitable to get the highest per-

formance from the EW process.

The technology can be applied to peculiar sulphide ores containing

high levels of manganese or other impurities. Once the zinc is dis-

solved by pressure leaching, atmospheric oxidative leaching, bio-

leaching, etc then ZINCEX SX purifies and concentrates for feed to

the zinc EW tank house.

In the same way, marginal but valuable materials such as low grade

concentrates, old and fresh tailings, and ROM can be treated using

heap leaching, bioleaching, etc to produce a solution containing zinc

Finally secondary materials such as, for instance, electric arc fur-

nace dust, any sort of fumes, and impure

zinc oxide concentrates (Waelz type) can

be also treated in the same way by any

process which leads to an impure solution

containing zinc; to which the same SX

approach applies.

As a result of these works TR now has

the know-how to apply ZINCEX SX tech-

nology to PLSs deriving from a variety of

upstream processes and raw materials. A

wide range of zinc concentrations from 5

to 150 g/litre in the feed solution can be

managed by customized process designand proper selection of operating condi-

tions.

Daz concludes that a very promising

future has been opened by the combina-

tion of Skorpions successful project and the ZINCEX technology

breakthrough.

Skorpion plant view


16/16

Documents

MDMW-Zinc&Lead11