Sulphuric Acid -
NEWS
Updated May 30, 2018
2018
Tamil Nadu
government orders permanent closure of Sterlite plant in Tuticorin
New acid plant
halfway done at Teck Trail
ADNOC and OCP
intend to develop new fertilizer JV
Haldor Topsoe
increases catalyst price
Workers seek
partner to buy and operate aging Peru smelter
DuPont increases price of sulfuric acid
catalyst products
Redwater Phosphate Plant Shutting Down in 2019
Topsoe’s sustainable SNOX™ emissions control
technology enters the carbon black industry
Two Andhra Pradesh
port towns in race for HZL smelter
Fluor awarded FEED contract for Egyptian
phosphoric acid production facility
DuPont increases
catalyst prices
World’s largest wet
gas sulfuric acid plant officially starts up
New Projects Boost
Iran's Copper Sector
Outotec to deliver modular sulfuric acid
plants for Shalina Resources in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Rio Tinto lifts force majeure on copper, acid
from U.S. mine
Smelting company Nyrstar has opened its upgraded facility at Port Pirie,
north of Adelaide
Noranda Income Fund Provides an Update on
Production
Agrium and PotashCorp Merger Completed Forming Nutrien, a Leader in
Global Agriculture
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009 2008
2007 2006
2005 2004
2003 2002
2001 2000
1999
1998
BASF inaugurates
electronic-grade sulfuric acid plant in China
May 30, 2018 - The German chemical company has started operations at a
new electronic-grade sulfuric acid (H2SO4) plant in Jiaxing, China, to
serve the country’s growing semiconductor manufacturing industry.
Driven by strong demand from customers, the plant has simultaneously
started its expansion phase to double the production capacity before the
completion of the facility. The expansion phase is expected to be
operational by the end of the year, the company states in a press
release. “The new electronic-grade sulfuric acid plant in China is
another step forward in our continued growth and expansion in China’s
electronics market,” said Boris Jenniches, Vice President of Business
Management at BASF Electronic Materials Asia Pacific. “China has already
become one of the largest semiconductor markets in the world and is
continuing to grow. We are excited to be a part of this momentum and
will remain committed to getting closer to our customers and providing
them with fast-track ramp-up of chemical solutions, reliable supply, and
consistent quality.” Located at the seaport town of Zhapu,
Zhejiang Province, southwest of Shanghai, the new plant is equipped with
the latest technology to produce the highest-quality sulfuric acid. This
will primarily be used during hundreds of cleaning cycles that
semiconductor wafers go through in the making of microchips designed in
single-digit nodes measuring less than 10 nanometers. It houses quality
analysis equipment, and an analytics lab with a dedicated cleanroom, to
accommodate the future needs of electronics customers in China.
Tamil Nadu government orders
permanent closure of Sterlite plant in Tuticorin
May 28, 2018 - Vedanta group's Sterlite
copper plant in Tuticorin has been ordered to be permanently shut by the
Tamil Nadu government. Large-scale violence on May 22 against the
Sterlite copper plant here and police firing led to the death of 12
persons and the next day saw one more youth succumbing to injuries
sustained in police firing. Tamil Nadu deputy Chief Minister O.
Panneerselvam on Monday asserted that the government will take resolute
steps for the permanent closure of Vedanta group’s Sterlite copper plant
in Thoothukudi. “Today, the main demand of the people is that the
copper plant should be permanently closed. In keeping with their demand,
it is shut now. I would like to make it clear that Sterlite plant will
be permanently shut,” Panneerselvam said. In a recent interview, Anil
Agarwal, chairman, Vedanta Resources, alluded to vested interests behind
the tragic events. "It is unfortunate what happened about 5 km away from
our plants. When we had the information that something like this was
being planned for the 22nd, we reached out to the court and the court
was quick to inform the local administration for it to be prepared… and
section 144 was imposed," he said. He also said false propaganda led to
the protests which led to 13 deaths. "Vedanta as a responsible corporate
citizen and on humanitarian grounds, we will extend all possible support
to families of the deceased and severely injured. The basic premise of
the protest was unfortunate, as the plant was non-operational, awaiting
Consent to Operate from TNPCB." Sterlite Copper is a unit of Vedanta
Ltd which operates a 400,000-tonne per annum capacity plant here. With
the return of normalcy, prohibitory orders were relaxed and the internet
services have also been restored fully. This spells bad news for
Vedanta investors, further putting downward pressure on a stock that’s
fallen 25% since the start of this year.
New Acid Plant Halfway Done at Teck
Trail
May 23, 2018 - Teck Trail’s new state-of-the-art acid plant hit the
halfway mark of construction this week. Local and provincial
leaders met with Teck representatives at the site on Tuesday to hear an
update on the $174-million build, which is slated to be fully
operational by next summer. “Today is all about celebrating an
important milestone in a major project here at Trail Operations – 50 per
cent completion of the No. 2 Acid Plant, ” General Manager Thompson
Hickey began. “And celebrating the achievements of our project’s team as
well as the many contractors, including CIMS, West Kootenay Mechanical,
A-Plus Electric and AMEC Foster Wheeler, who worked so hard to reach
this milestone.” The new facility is a replica of the No. 1 Acid
Plant which was completed in 2014. Together the new technology will
replace three acid plants, which were constructed in the 1960s and ‘70s,
that have now reached the end of their lifespan. “The No. 2 Acid
Plant is the latest major investment to further strengthen Trail’s
position as a world-class metallurgical facility and an important part
of our business,” noted Shehzad Bharmal, Vice President, North America
Operations, Base Metals, Teck. “Teck, as a company, is committed to the
future of Trail Operations. That is why we have worked hard over the
years to strengthen the operational and environmental performance of
every aspect of the smelter.” The acid plants are part of zinc
production processes, and convert SO2 gas into sulphuric acid. The
sulphuric acid is sent to Warfield Operations for use in fertilizer
production and it is sold in the open market for other industrial
applications. The new plant will further reduce SO2 (sulphur
dioxide) emissions. “It’s so great to see this continuing
investment made in Trail Operations,” Mayor Mike Martin said.
“This is new acid plant is going to be replacing two old units, and as
was indicated today, it will have a 40-year asset life,” Martin told
the Times. “So it will help, in part, to secure Trail Operations for the
future.” As far as the City of Trail goes, any environmental
improvement that is made by Teck, is a benefit, he added. “This is
just another example of that, replacing an old unit with one that will
be operating with higher efficiency in removing sulphur dioxide, so
again, we’ll see improvement for the community.” Investments such
as the KIVCET Smelter and the Nov. 1 Acid Plant have reduced emissions
from the Trail plant by 95 per cent, and the No. 2 Acid Plant will
further reduce emissions while enhancing the efficiency of operations,
Hickey noted. “This investment is good for our operation and for
the community, helping to ensure that Trail Operations continues to be
an economic drive in the region for decades to come,” Hickey said. “At
Teck, nothing is more important than everyone going home safe and
healthy every day, so I’m very pleased to say we’ve also reached this
important milestone with zero Lost Time Injuries.” Trail
Operations houses one of the world’s largest smelting and refining
complexes, which produces refined zinc and lead and a variety of
precious and specialty metals, chemicals, and fertilizer products. The
site employs approximately 1,400 people and has been in operation for
over a century.
ADNOC and OCP intend to develop
new fertilizer JV
May 15, 2018 - Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) and OCP Group of
Morocco have announced that they have agreed to explore the phased
creation of a new global fertilizers joint venture (JV).This
move will reportedly accelerate the execution of both companies’
international strategies. It will build on both of their competitive
advantages to develop a new global fertilizer producer. ADNOC will
provide world scale sulfur production, ammonia and gas expertise, as
well as its shipping and logistics network, whilst OCP will provide
access to large phosphate resources, as well as know-how regarding
fertilizers and its marketing network. The proposed partnership will
consist of two fertilizer production hubs – one in the UAE and one in
Morocco (making use of both existing and new assets), ensuring that the
proposed JV has a global market reach.According to the
statement, the proposed project extends the partnership that has already
been established through the existing long-term sulfur offtake agreement
that was announced by the two firms in December last year. Both
companies will work on developing capabilities that will support this
venture as they expand their partnership, leveraging their respective
strengths and building their human capital.The agreement
aligns with ADNOC’s announced plans to increase production (currently at
7 million tpy) by a minimum of 50%, as the company aims to increase gas
production by tapping into vast gas caps and scaling up sour gas
production. OCP has engaged in a large scale development program that
will allow it to capture a share of growing fertilizer demand. The first
phase of the program was completed this year, and has brought the
group’s existing fertilizer capacity to 12 million t and rock export
capacity to more than 18 million t.H.E. Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al
Jaber, UAE Minister of State and ADNOC Group CEO, said: “The proposed
joint venture with OCP Group illustrates ADNOC’s intent to maximise the
value of all our resources, as we grow our downstream business,
diversify our product range and increase revenues. The agreement builds
on the expanded partnership model we announced last year, as we open our
entire value chain to reliable, value-adding, long-term partners, who
can complement our capabilities and resources, and enhance our market
access.“Importantly, this agreement is aligned with the
directives of our leadership to further build on the existing close
relationship and ties between the United Arab Emirates and Morocco, and
we look forward to building on these firm foundations as we work towards
potentially building a new global fertilizers champion.”Mostafa
Terrab, OCP Group Chairman and CEO, added: “This collaboration between
our companies brings together the world’s largest phosphate reserves and
the world’s largest sulfur production capacity and it represents an
unprecedented alliance in the industry, providing the partners with a
world-class integrated asset base and complementary geographic
locations. We view this new partnership as a unique opportunity, in line
with our global strategy, that will contribute to our ability to serve
growing demand for fertilizers worldwide.”According to the
statement, this agreement comes as ADNOC – at its Downstream Investment
Forum – reveals its aim to establish itself as a global downstream
leader, allowing it to further stretch the value of each barrel it
produces to the benefit of ADNOC, its partners and the UAE. It aligns
with its 2030 strategy of a more profitable upstream, more valuable
downstream, more sustainable and economic gas supply, and more
proactive, adaptive marketing and trading. This project further supports
ADNOC’s downstream growth plans to create the world’s largest integrated
refining and petrochemicals complex in Ruwais.
Haldor Topsoe increases
catalyst price
May 10, 2018 - Effective immediately, Haldor Topsoe has announced a
further price increase on the company’s sulfuric acid catalysts due to
the rising price of raw materials.
Workers seek partner to buy and
operate aging Peru smelter
May 3, 2018 - Workers at Peru’s La Oroya
polymetallic smelter are in talks with more than two companies
interested in partnering with them to restart operations at the nearly
100-year-old plant, a union leader said on Thursday. La Oroya had
been operated by Doe Run Peru, a unit of the U.S.-based Renco Group,
from 1997 until the company went bankrupt in 2009 and its assets were
transferred to a group of former creditors. The group of creditors
agreed this week that the workers union could buy the smelter along with
a small copper mine, Cobriza, which had also been owned by Doe Run, in
order to keep the two assets from being liquidated. The union has
until mid-June to find an investor to pay $90 million to help them buy
the smelter and Cobriza, said Luis Castillo, the head of the union.
Castillo said workers had already started negotiations with two Peruvian
companies and foreign investors. “It won’t be easy but we think that
we’ll have the money and an investor by June 15,” Castillo said by
phone, declining to name the companies. A further $100 million in
upgrades would be needed so lead and zinc smelting can resume, Castillo
said. Copper smelting would need more in investments and time to
restart, he added. The town of La Oroya where the smelter is
located in Peru’s central Andes was once named one of the 10 most
polluted places in the world by the Blacksmith Institute environmental
group. Hundreds of children in La Oroya have been found to have
dangerous levels of lead in their blood. Former President Pedro
Pablo Kuczynski, who resigned amid corruption allegations last month,
relaxed sulfur dioxide emission limits to cut the cost of investing in
upgrades in smelters. But six attempts to sell La Oroya in an auction
failed to draw any offers.
DuPont increases price of sulfuric
acid catalyst products
April 27,
2018 - DuPont Clean Technologies has released a statement announcing a
further global price increase for its MECS® products.
The company claims that it has increased the price of its MECS
sulfuric acid catalyst products by US$0.30/litre because of rapidly
changing market conditions.DuPont added that the new pricing will take
immediate effect, subject to the terms of applicable contracts.
Redwater Phosphate Plant
Shutting Down in 2019
April 26, 2018 - Nutrien Ltd. is getting out of the
phosphate business in Canada by shutting down its Redwater facility,
the only one of its kind in the country.Officials with the company
have been spreading the news since it was announced earlier this
year. Nutrien, created from the merger of Agrium and PotashCorp in
January, will continue its phosphate operations but at its
facilities in the United States.During his presentation at the Life
in the Heartland event on April 18, Ted Sawchuk, plant manager at
the Fort Saskatchewan operations, said the phosphate sales at the
Redwater plant account for 50 per cent for Canada.“We are the only
phosphate producer in Canada, at the current time,” he said.
“Obviously with the mergers, there’s going to be synergies. One of
the synergies that came out was the PotashCorp side had a lot of
phosphate capacity. When we looked at their phosphate capacity, it
became really, I would say, the best business decision overall is to
shut down the Redwater phosphate.”The plant, which will celebrate
its 50th anniversary next year just in time for the start of the
shutdown, has 450 employees with on average a 100 contractors
brought in every day and pays $6 million in property taxes. Sawchuk
explained starting in 2019, the main phosphate plant will be shut
down as well as the one sulphuric acid plant. This means there will
no longer be any gypsum production being done as the company plans
to reclaim the stacks over the years. Nutrien plans to double its
ammonium sulphate production by spending $30 million to transform
the facility to accommodate it. This is expected to take three
months.Sawchuk said the company is not expecting “too many cuts” as
it is believed attrition can handle most of the job losses.Mike
Fedunec, the manager at the Redwater facility, said the official
announcement of the shutdown happened less than a month ago so he
and Sawchuk have been touring around to events like Life in the
Heartland and the Redwater Mayor’s Breakfast to explain the
news.“When word gets out that you are shutting down, you want to
avoid panic in the streets,” he said. “We are converting basically.
We are shutting down some plants, starting up a different one.
Instead of having two products, we are going to have twice as much
of one product.”Fedunec explained the shutdown process is expected
to take a long time since the gypsum stack, for example, still has a
lot of water in it. The company will have to build a water treatment
plant to treat that water before anything can be done with it. The
goal is to make it look similar to the stack in the Fort but with
trees on it.As the company makes the transition, Fedunec said the
company doesn’t have any plans for big layoffs at the
moment.“Redwater is huge,” he added. “The phosphate side is less
than half of the plant. We still have all of our nitrogen, we still
have our urea, two ammonium plants, nitric acid. The nitrogen side
is three times the size of the Fort site. The phosphate site is what
we are working on.”
Topsoe’s
sustainable SNOX™ emissions control technology enters the carbon
black industry
April 12, 2018 -
Orion Engineered Carbons LLC has signed a contract for
Topsoe’s sustainable flue gas cleaning technology, SNOX™. The contract has a value of a three digit million DKK amount.The
solution will remove SOx, NOx and dust particles from tail gases at
Orion’s carbon black plant in Ivanhoe, Louisiana, USA.
It is the first time that SNOX™ is applied in the carbon black
industry.
Since 2014, Orion has conducted in-depth analyses of the SNOX™
process, including investigative site visits to existing Topsoe
plants and testing the concept at one of Orion’s manufacturing
facilities. In particular, Orion was convinced by the second-to-none
sustainability profile of SNOX™, which does not consume any
reagents, apart from ammonia for the NOx reduction, and does not
consume any water. Other factors that played a major role in their
selection were the highest available energy efficiency and the very
low emissions level that meets the stringent environmental
regulations. The agreement with Orion includes
engineering, license, proprietary equipment, spare parts, catalyst,
and future supervision tasks during commissioning and start-up, as
well as service obligations during commercial operation. The SNOX™
plant is scheduled to be in full commercial operation by April 2021.The
SNOX™ process removes sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and
particulates from flue gases. The sulfur is recovered as sellable
sulfuric acid and the nitrogen oxides are reduced to harmless free
nitrogen. The process is based on catalytic reactions and does not
consume water or absorbents. Neither does it produce any waste. The
heat generated in the process can be reused to preheat air in
Orion’s process which improves overall efficiency and economics
considerably.
Two Andhra Pradesh port towns in
race for HZL smelter
March 29, 2018 - The port towns of Kakinada in East
Godavari and Krishnapatnamin Nellore district are in the reckoning
by the Vedanta group to set up a zinc smelter. The smelter will be
set up by Hindustan Zinc Ltd, the flagship of the Vedanta group in
India, and the project was announced during the CII Partnership in
Visakhapatnam last month. According to J. Krishna Kishore,
chief executive officer of Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board
(APEDB), HZL had sought 1200 acres of land for setting up the
smelter. “The company indicated that it wanted the land in port
towns, so the board showed Vedanta officials several large parcels
of land in Kakinada and Krishnapatnam,” he said. Asked when he
expected to hear about which town Vedanta would be setting up the
smelter, Krishna Kishore said the potential of the two towns is
stated to be under consideration by the board of HZ, and that a
decision is expected “shortly”. The Anil Agarwal-owned Vedanta
Ltd has a 64.92% stake in HZL, while the central government owns a
29.59% stake, and the balance is held by mutual funds, financial
institutions and individual shareholders as of 31 December 2017, as
per the company’s filing with the bourses on its shareholding
pattern. Krishna Kishore said that HZL is expected to invest
Rs. 3000 crore in the first phase of the smelter, with another Rs.
3000 crore in the proposed second phase. “Apart from the zinc
smelter, HZL is also planning to set up a fertilizer plant to make
use of the sulphuric acid generated by the zinc smelting process.
The fertilizer plant could be outsourced to a third party by HZL,
but that is something HZL will take a call on when the smelter is
commissioned,” he said. The current plan by Vedanta to set up
a zinc smelter is the second attempt by the non-ferrous conglomerate
to make a success of such a manufacturing unit in Andhra Pradesh.
Its first attempt ended in the closure of the existing zinc smelter
in Visakhapatnam in 2012. The Visakhapatnam zinc smelter began
commercial operations in 1977, and it produced both zinc and lead,
and silver as a byproduct. While HZL shut down its lead plant in
Visakhapatnam in the mid-nineties—long before Vedanta acquired a
majority stake in the company from the government—following
complaints by residents of villages adjoining the smelter that the
lead residue was leaching into their groundwater sources, the
company shut down its zinc smelter in 2012 with HZL and Vedanta
claiming that it had become unviable to run the plant by
transporting zinc concentrate from its mines in Rajasthan and
elsewhere. Over 300 executives and workers were let go off when the
Vizag smelter was shut down. Last year, HZL hired a consultant
to find a buyer for the 342 acres of land on which the smelter is
located, but the move was moved into cold storage after labour
unions in Vizag raised concerns over HZL’s plans to book windfall
profits from the sale of the land, which is in the Gajuwaka
neighborhood. The 342-acre HZL land is estimated to cost nearly Rs.
5000 crore. Vedanta now plans to convert the land into a “city
centre project”, as announced by the company during the partnership
summit last month, and confirmed to ToI by HZL spokesman Pavan
Kaushik earlier this month. Krishna Kishore said that HZL’s
new smelter in Andhra Pradesh would be using imported zinc
concentrate, which had made it imperative for the Vedanta group to
locate the plant in a port town.
Fluor awarded FEED contract
for Egyptian phosphoric acid production facility
March 27, 2018 - Fluor Corp. has announced that it has been
awarded the front-end engineering design (FEED) contract by
Enppi – Egypt’s state energy firm – for the offsites and
utilities section of the main plant complex and support services
for the Waphco phosphoric acid production plant at Abu Tartour,
New Valley province, Egypt.
The President of Fluor’s Mining & Metals
business, Tony Morgan, said: “Fluor appreciates the importance and
relevance to Egypt of this major industrial project and will use its
experienced resources and subject matter expertise to deliver this
complex engineering project to meet our client’s goals.“Our integrated
project team is one of the most experienced in the mining and
fertilizers industry with the resources, expertise and knowledge to meet
the cost, safety and fast-track schedule needs of our client.”Fluor will
work with Enppi as an integrated team. It will fast-track the FEED for
the plant, which will utilise resources from the Abu Tartour mine to
produce merchant-grade phosphoric acid. The project scope includes all
process facilities. These include a sulfuric acid plant, utilities with
a cogeneration system, storage and other required units. Once the
facility is completed, it will produce 500 000 metric tpy of wet process
phosphoric acid.
DuPont increases catalyst prices
March 7, 2018 - DuPont Clean Technologies
(DuPont) has announced a general global price increase of US$0.50/l for
its MECS® sulfuric
acid catalyst products. Subject to the terms of applicable contracts,
the new pricing will take effect immediately. Our world-leading,
high-quality catalyst enables customers to achieve high yield sulfuric
acid production with maximum efficiency and reliability,” said Cristina
Kulczycki, global product manager, Acid Catalysts. “Our focus continues
to be on supporting members of the sulfuric acid industry with new
products, technologies and services that allow them to be more agile,
flexible and competitive.”
World’s largest wet gas sulfuric acid
plant officially starts up
February 19, 2018 - Bestgrand Chemical Group has announced the
successful startup of its wet gas sulfuric acid (WSA) plant.
The plant has a production capacity of 300 000
tpy of sulfuric acid, and is the world’s largest such facility. It will
treat 131 000 t of acid gas over-the-fence per year from the
neighbouring world scale refinery plant operated by a joint venture (JV)
between China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) and Shell in Huizhou
City, China.Bestgrand Chemical Group claims that it focused on the
environmental benefits from using WSA to capture gaseous sulfur and
convert it into commercial grade sulfuric acid. It has also been a
deciding factor that both the energy efficiency and the heat recovery of
the process are very high. The company predicts that it will decrease CO2 emissions
by 220 000 tpy and SO2 emissions
to a level that is 50% lower than that required by the sulfuric acid
industry.Frank Lei, Senior Sales Director, Topsoe in China, said:
“Haldor Topsoe is proud to be awarded the license, engineering design,
tech service, and hardware and catalyst contract for the world’s largest
WSA plant by Bestgrand Chemical Group. The successful startup is a
milestone for the WSA technology both in China and globally, and it
proves that this technology has an important role to play in reducing
harmful sulfur emissions in a commercially sound way.”Since 2000, Topsoe
has sold a total of 68 WSA plants in China. 54 of these are now on
stream, with the remaining 14 under construction.
New Projects Boost Iran's Copper Sector
February 5, 2018 - Thirteen expansion
projects of Kerman Province’s National Iranian Copper Industries Company
were inaugurated late Thursday by President Hassan Rouhani and Minister
of Industries, Mining and Trade Mohammad Shariatmadari. The total
value of the projects exceeded 35 trillion rials ($760.8 million), the
Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation
Organization announced. NICICO is the leading copper producer in
the Middle East and North Africa region, as the mines it operates hold
close to 14% share of Asia’s copper deposits and about 3% of global
reserves. Iran holds about 4 billion tons of estimated copper
reserves, according to Geological Survey of Iran. The new
production projects include a flash smelter with a capacity of 282,000
tons of copper anode per year alongside the purchase of casting wheels
and anode furnaces with an investment of 2.4 trillion rials ($51.6
million) in addition to €182 million; Khatunabad Copper Smelter with an
annual capacity of 200,000 tons of copper cathode and an investment of
640 billion rials ($13.7 million) in addition to €143 million;
Sarcheshmeh copper plant’s new convertor furnaces’ gas discharge system
with 1.54 trillion rials ($33 million) in addition to the investment of
€19 million; Sarcheshmeh cathode washing system with 1 trillion rials
($21 million) of investment; Sarcheshmeh’s explosive material production
plant with a capacity of 12,000 tons of gelatin dynamites per year with
120 billion rials ($2.5 million) of investment; and expansion of
Sarcheshmeh’s sulfuric acid plant capacity to 300,000 tons per year with
580 billion rials of investment in addition to €3 million. The new
infrastructure projects comprised the second line of the 80-kilometer
Sarcheshmeh-Shahr-e-Babak Road with an 800-billion-rial ($17 million)
investment; the first and second phase of Sirjan’s 500-megawatt combined
cycle power plant with an investment of 700 billion rials ($15 million)
in addition to €285 million; Khatunabad’s new copper concentrate storage
with a 60,000-ton capacity and a molybdenum dewatering, drying and
drum-filling plant, with a combined investment of 790 billion rials ($17
million); increasing the capacity of quicklime storage by 1,250 tons
with an investment of 110 billion rials ($2.3 million);
Meymand-Shahr-e-Babak electricity substation with 50 billion rials ($1
million), in addition to an investment of €15 million; and nine
electricity substations to feed flash smelters, acid sulfuric and
molybdenum plants with 480 billion rials ($10 million) of investment,
according to NIOC's website. The company, however, stopped short
of saying whether the projects' "inauguration" meant that they have
become operational or simply that work has just begun on them.
Giant Holding
NICICO operates the world’s second largest and the Middle East’s largest
open-pit copper mine, Sarcheshmeh. The mine is home to over 826 million
tons of proven and 1.2 billion tons of estimated copper reserves,
alongside substantial amounts of minerals such as molybdenum, gold and
rare metals. NICICO's other mines include Sungun Copper Mine in
northwestern Iran, Taft, Miduk, Chahmesi and Chahfiroozeh mines in
central Iran, Daraloo Mine in the south and Chehelkoureh Mine in
southeast. Its plants in Kerman Province include
Sarcheshmeh and Miduk concentration plants with 800,000 tons/year
capacity, Sarcheshmeh Molybdenum plant with 7,000 tons/year, Sarcheshmeh
and Miduk SX-EW plants with 13,000 tons/year capacity, Sarcheshmeh and
Khatoon Abad smelter plants with 250,000 tons/year capacity, Sarcheshmeh
Sulfuric Acid Plant with 100,000 tons/year capacity, Sarcheshmeh
Refinery Plant with 240,000 tons/year capacity, Khatoon Abad Refinery
Plant with 200,000 tons/year capacity and Sarcheshmeh wire rod, slab and
billet casting plants with 180,000 tons/year capacity.
Stability in Global Prices
Capacity expansions at NICICO have come at a good time, as global copper
prices are holding their own in 2018. After a series of plunges in
late 2017, copper spent most of December growing rapidly to distance
itself from its $6,500 lows and jump above $7,000 in January 2018.
Prices have taken a beating since the year began, dropping from a high
of $7,202 to just above $6,900, but February showings have been strong
and it’s now again above $7,100, London Metal Exchange reported.
NICICO’s experience with the historic lows of 2015 has made it more
resilient and also adaptive. According to the head of IMIDRO,
Mehdi Karbasian, NICICO has reduced its copper concentrate finished
price from 35,510 rials (76 cents) per kilogram to 24,400 (52 cents) and
cathode prices from 51,980 rials ($1.1) to 39,000 rials (83 cents) in
the past four years. The cost-cutting enabled the company to
survive the low prices and now with the markets improving, it is poised
to increase NICICO’s competitiveness. NICICO’s shares are
currently being traded at 2,633 rials each on Tehran Stock Exchange with
a market capitalization of $3.47 billion. The company is a
semi-privatized entity, as a large number of state-owned firms or other
semi-privatized companies own its shares. Its largest shareholder, for
instance, is the vast mining governmental holding IMIDRO with a 12%
share. Bank Mellat, Metal and Mines Development Investment Company
are the two other, each owning about 5.7%.
Outotec to deliver modular sulfuric
acid plants for Shalina Resources in the Democratic Republic of Congo
January 29, 2018 - Outotec to deliver modular
sulfuric acid plants for Shalina Resources in the Democratic Republic of
Congo Outotec has been awarded a contract by Shalina Resources Limited
for the delivery of advanced sulfuric acid plant technology to the
Mutoshi project near Kolwezi in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The
order value, approximately EUR 33 million, is booked in Outotec's 2018
first quarter order intake. Outotec's scope includes the delivery of
three skid mounted, modular sulfuric acid plants that will produce the
acid and SO(2) gas required in the process of the new Mutoshi
copper-cobalt plant. The innovative plant concept, based on Outotec's
technology and expertise gained from 650 plants delivered globally,
ensures the many benefits of modular prefabricated plant delivery, such
as low investment, installation and operation cost, increased
availability and maintainability as well as environmentally sound and
safe operation. The order complements the EUR 65 million copper and
cobalt processing technology delivery to the Mutoshi project Outotec
announced on December 14, 2017. "We really look forward to working with
Shalina Resources in the Mutoshi project, and are extremely pleased that
we can complete our diverse technology package for the copper and cobalt
processing now with sulfuric acid plants. These modular plants represent
our latest technology, and remarkably improve the environmental
performance of the plant", says Kalle Härkki, head of Outotec's Metals,
Energy & Water business.
Rio Tinto lifts force majeure on
copper, acid from U.S. mine
January 26, 2018 - Rio Tinto lifted force majeure on Jan. 1 for
shipments of refined copper and acid from its Kennecott mine in the
United States, 79 days after declaring it could not meet customer
commitments, a spokesman said on Friday. The global miner declared
force majeure October 13, after halting production of refined copper at
its Utah mine smelter following the death of a worker exposed to sulfur
dioxide gases at the plant. It restarted the smelter November 17.
“It’s business as usual,” said spokesman Kyle Bennett. In the
fourth quarter, refined copper production at Kennecott declined 67
percent compared with the same period in the previous year, to 22,100
tonnes from 67,000 tonnes, Rio said in an operations report last week.
The smelter was expected to draw down an increased concentrate inventory
during the first half of 2018, Rio said. In 2017, Kennecott
produced 125,800 tonnes of refined copper, down some 20 percent from
2016.
Smelting company Nyrstar has opened its upgraded facility at Port Pirie,
north of Adelaide
January 22,
2017 - Smelting group Nyrstar has opened its upgraded metals
processing plant at Port Pirie, north of Adelaide, after a $600 million
investment to cut pollution and ensure its long-term viability.Premier Jay
Weatherill says the upgraded plant has secured 730 ongoing jobs and will
allow the company to significantly reduce emissions."For Nyrstar, improved
efficiencies provide a pathway to uplift earnings and for Port Pirie we can
lock in better health and environment outcomes for decades to come," Mr
Weatherill said as he visited the plant on Monday.Nyrstar chairman Martyn
Konig said the smelter had played a strong role in the changing face of Port
Pirie for more than 127 years."Nyrstar is proud and committed to continue to
be a fundamentally important part of the economic and social landscape in
Port Pirie," he said.Mr Konig said Nyrstar also valued a commitment to
sustainability and one of the most important reasons for the redevelopment
was the significant environmental benefits it promised to deliver.That
included moving to a completely enclosed furnace design to capture dust and
sulphur dioxide emissions which would result in a markedly improved
environmental footprint, he said.SA Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis said the
Nyrstar development had also provided up to 600 jobs during the construction
phase and local companies were awarded contracts worth about $90
million."But just as importantly, securing the future for Port Pirie has
encouraged other businesses to invest in new developments due to the
certainty we have created," he said.Mr Weatherill said without the
redevelopment, the closure of the Port Pirie facility had been a
possibility.'That would have been catastrophic on a number of levels,
environmentally, socially but of course economically for this region," he
said.The premier said the government had two key goals in supporting the
project, protecting the health of the local community and protecting local
jobs.
Noranda Income Fund Provides an Update
on Production
January 19, 2018 - Noranda Income Fund (TSX:NIF.UN) (the
“Fund”) provides an update to the market on the work towards returning
to normal operating capacity following the ratification of the new
collective agreement on December 1, 2017.All active unionized employees
returned to work at the processing facility in December 2017. As of the
end of December, all equipment that had been idled since February 2017
has been restarted. By the end of January 2018, the Fund’s Manager
expects to have completed the ramp up of the processing facility’s
operation to normal operating capacity.Once the processing facility has
achieved its normal operating rate, and assuming full supply of zinc
concentrate, the Fund should be able to produce between 250,000 and
260,000 tonnes of zinc from the treatment of concentrate feeds as well
as processing the 20,000 tonnes of Glencore Canada-owned cathode in
2018. As disclosed in November 2017, the Fund sold 20,000 tonnes of zinc
cathode to Glencore Canada. It is expected that this material will be
tolled by the processing facility. In exchange, the Fund will receive a
tolling fee.The Fund, through its Independent Committee and their
advisors, is currently negotiating with Glencore Canada and anticipates
reaching a satisfactory agreement regarding the supply of zinc
concentrate following the end of the current concentrate agreement on
April 30, 2018.
Agrium and PotashCorp Merger Completed
Forming Nutrien, a Leader in Global Agriculture
January 2, 2018 - Nutrien Ltd. today announced the successful
completion of the merger of equals between Agrium Inc. and Potash
Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc., creating the world’s premier provider
of crop inputs and services. Nutrien has the largest crop nutrient
production portfolio combined with an unparalleled global retail
distribution network that includes more than 1,500 farm retail centers.
With nearly 20,000 employees – and operations and investments in 14
countries – the company is committed to providing products and services
that help growers optimize crop yields and their returns.“Today we are
proud to launch Nutrien, a company that will forge a unique position
within the agriculture industry,” said Chuck Magro, President & Chief
Executive Officer of Nutrien. “Our company will have an unmatched
capability to respond to customer and market opportunities, focusing on
innovation and growth across our retail and crop nutrient businesses.
Importantly, we intend to draw upon the depth of our combined talent and
best practices to build a new company that is stronger and better
equipped to create value for all our stakeholders.”Nutrien common shares
will trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange
under the ticker symbol NTR beginning today. Trading of common
shares of Agrium and PotashCorp was halted on the Toronto Stock Exchange
and New York Stock Exchange concurrently with the listing of Nutrien
common shares on such exchanges. The merger of equals resulted in
PotashCorp shareholders receiving 0.40 common shares of Nutrien for each
common share of PotashCorp they owned, and Agrium shareholders received
2.23 common shares of Nutrien for each common share of Agrium they
owned.
