Basically the
recycling operations at the Hoboken Works are streamlined along two
processes:
The Precious Metals Operations (PMO) focus on fast throughput and maximized
yields at optimized cost. They are fully tuned for the efficient refining of
an extended range of complex and valuable raw materials, containing precious
metals.
The Base Metals Operations (BMO) focus on flexibly processing by-products
from the PMO at the lowest possible costs and optimal throughput times.
Both PMO & BMO enhance the basic success factors of our business model:
flexibility, reliability and complexity.
Major investments have been recently completed, to develop, install and run
new metallurgical operations, completely shifting Hoboken's focus from
concentrates to recyclable materials and industrial by-products. In other
words, over the past decade a completely renewed plant has been built on
site.
Our processes are based on complex lead/copper/nickel metallurgy, using
these base metals as collectors for precious metals and other metals, so
called "impurities", such as antimony, bismuth, tin, selenium, tellurium and
indium. The main advantage of our innovated plant is increased productivity,
combined with greater efficiency, which results in maximized metal recovery
rates and generating optimum precious metals yields.
The main processing
steps of the Base Metals Operations are the lead blast furnace, the lead
refinery and the special metals plant.
The lead blast furnace reduces the oxidized lead slag from the smelter
together with high lead containing third party raw materials and transforms
them into impure lead bullion, nickel speiss, copper matte and depleted
slag.
The impure lead bullion, collecting most of the non-precious metals is
further treated in the lead refinery. Besides pure lead the process
generates special metals residues. These are, together with the main
side-streams of the Precious Metals Operations, further refined into pure
metals and metals salts in our special metals refinery to produce high
quality indium, selenium, tellurium and antimonate. Some intermediates are
tolled out to dedicated companies to produce tin and bismuth.
After leaching the nickel out of the nickel speiss and turning it into
nickel sulfate, the remaining precious metals residue is treated at the
precious metals refinery.
The copper matte is returned to the smelter.
The depleted blast furnace slag is physically calibrated for use in the
concrete industry or used as dyke fortification substance
