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Only thing I can add to this one is that zinc isn't necessarily zinc, there are differences in the purity of it and that comes down to there being two distinctly different production processes each itself having some minor variants. As with most things, the quality of the product affects its financial value - zinc isn't all the same!The pyrometallurgical and electrolytic processes both start with the same basic step of roasting which in simple laymans terms means the zinc concentrate, the ore from the mines, is literally burnt (and it burns rather well, much like coal). From there the rest is vastly different.Pyrometallurgical process: Roasting > Sintering > Retorting > Casting of metal.Electrolytic process: Roasting > Leaching > Purification > Electrolysis > Casting of metal. For simplicity this process is commonly referred to as the RLE process (Roast Leach Electrolysis).The pyrometallurgical process results in a zinc purity of around 98% which is good enough for galvanizing but that's about all. In contrast the electrolytic process produces two output streams - High Grade at 99.95% purity and Special High Grade at 99.995% pure zinc.A major byproduct is sulfur dioxide, usually used on site to manufacture sulfuric acid, indeed there's more of that by weight than there is actual zinc produced. So the acid is a by-product financially but it's actually the largest product in physical terms.Australia is the third largest zinc mining country with mines in the NT, Qld, WA, NSW and Tas and with major smelting operations located at Hobart and Townsville.Just on 2% of the world's zinc is refined at the Hobart plant, which uses the RLE process, with production about half each of 99.95% and 99.995% grades.Apart from the zinc concentrate from mining, other key inputs to the process are a fair bit of water and rather a lot of electricity most of which goes into the electrolysis stage of the process.From an investment perspective though I'll caution that zinc companies have tended to be a bit like airlines. A very large scale operation involving lots of fancy equipment but it sure wouldn't be the first time a zinc company went broke indeed they seem to spend a lot of time on the edge financially, interspersed with the occasional boom where the money is made but things tend to look pretty grim much of the time.
Only thing I can add to this one is that zinc isn't necessarily zinc, there are differences in the purity of it and that comes down to there being two distinctly different production processes each itself having some minor variants. As with most things, the quality of the product affects its financial value - zinc isn't all the same!
The pyrometallurgical and electrolytic processes both start with the same basic step of roasting which in simple laymans terms means the zinc concentrate, the ore from the mines, is literally burnt (and it burns rather well, much like coal). From there the rest is vastly different.
Pyrometallurgical process: Roasting > Sintering > Retorting > Casting of metal.
Electrolytic process: Roasting > Leaching > Purification > Electrolysis > Casting of metal. For simplicity this process is commonly referred to as the RLE process (Roast Leach Electrolysis).
The pyrometallurgical process results in a zinc purity of around 98% which is good enough for galvanizing but that's about all. In contrast the electrolytic process produces two output streams - High Grade at 99.95% purity and Special High Grade at 99.995% pure zinc.
A major byproduct is sulfur dioxide, usually used on site to manufacture sulfuric acid, indeed there's more of that by weight than there is actual zinc produced. So the acid is a by-product financially but it's actually the largest product in physical terms.
Australia is the third largest zinc mining country with mines in the NT, Qld, WA, NSW and Tas and with major smelting operations located at Hobart and Townsville.
Just on 2% of the world's zinc is refined at the Hobart plant, which uses the RLE process, with production about half each of 99.95% and 99.995% grades.
Apart from the zinc concentrate from mining, other key inputs to the process are a fair bit of water and rather a lot of electricity most of which goes into the electrolysis stage of the process.
From an investment perspective though I'll caution that zinc companies have tended to be a bit like airlines. A very large scale operation involving lots of fancy equipment but it sure wouldn't be the first time a zinc company went broke indeed they seem to spend a lot of time on the edge financially, interspersed with the occasional boom where the money is made but things tend to look pretty grim much of the time.
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