Insight
China’s zinc smelters face fresh challenges from stricter environmental standards
Report summary
The recent increase in Chinese zinc smelter utilisation is threatened by proposed environmental regulation. These will bring tough challenges on both energy usage and equipment design for many zinc smelters. This is especially acute for smelters employing small grate area roasters and Waelz kilns to process leach residues. Substitution to low energy-consuming hydrometallurgical techniques for residue processing is not possible due to the government's tough stance on residue dumping. We may also see the cost of replacing “small” roasters to be not affordable for a number of operators. We could therefore see the ultimate aim of the Chinese government being achieved, in that zinc metal production is no longer in the hands of a multitude of varying sized companies but in the hands of a few large companies. Typically, a mature zinc smelting industry moves forward by evolution, with smelters slowly adopting new techniques, but we may now be seeing a revolution in the offing.
Table of contents
- Roasters: size matters
- Energy: lower consumption comes at a higher cost
- Government’s industry ‘clean up’ could lead to a revolution on China’s zinc smelting industry
Tables and charts
This report includes 3 images and tables including:
- Smelters analysed in our Zinc Smelter Cost Service operating a roaster with a grate area of less than 100 m2
- Total energy consumption on a kgce/t basis versus the two 2019 standards of smelters that form part of our Zinc Smelter Cost Service
What's included
This report contains:
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