The Akita zinc smelter was commissioned in 1953 with a capacity of 7kt/a. This was expanded to 100kt/a by 1973. However due to ongoing losses through the early 1990s the decision was made to close the smelter in 1996. However some alloying operations are still carried out on the site. This analysis was discontinued from 1997 onwards. Wood Mackenzie’s asset reports are built from the bottom up, incorporating a number of granular data metrics to ultimately produce our industry standard cash operating costs. This report contains a detailed asset note giving you a holistic view of the asset, including an operational overview through to a timeline of events from inception to now. This qualitative analysis is supplemented by the associated Excel download which enables interrogation of a whole series of cost and production metrics over the life of the asset.