Horsehead Holding Plans New Zinc Production Facility

Horsehead Holding Corp., Pittsburgh, has announced its decision to proceed with plans to build a zinc production facility. The new facility will replace Horsehead’s older smelter technology. The company expects the new facility to result in sharply reduced emissions of greenhouse gases and particulates into the atmosphere.

According to a news release, the plant will use the ZINCEX solvent extraction technology.

The plant will produce zinc solely from recycled materials and use significantly less fossil fuel than the company’s current smelter. The new plant will convert electric arc furnace-based feed and other recycled materials into special high grade zinc and other grades in addition to the prime western grade currently offered by the company, expanding its access to new markets while it serves customers in the zinc oxide market. In addition, the process will allow the company to recover value from new metals such as silver and lead as well as the copper and cadmium contained in electric arc furnace dust.

Horsehead has tabbed Tecnicas Reunidas, Madrid, a technology provider and developer of the ZINCEX process, to complete an engineering study for the plant. This study has confirmed findings from previously completed feasibility studies that led to the decision to commence with the project. The ZINCEX process has been successfully deployed at the Skorpion facility in Namibia and the Akita facility in Japan.

Horsehead says the new facility will be able to produce more than 150,000 tons of zinc per year and will reduce manufacturing conversion costs due to the lower energy usage, higher labor productivity and lower maintenance needs associated with the new technology.

The company, which is in negotiations in regards to a final location, hopes to start construction on the facility by the end of 2011. Completion of the construction is expected by the third quarter of 2013.