BIG RIVER ZINC (BRZ) PROJECT, ILLINOIS, USA

View from the south-east towards the Mississippi and Saint Louis

The Big River Zinc smelter is an electrolytic zinc refinery located about 3 km south east of St Louis. BRZ commenced operation in 1929 and has over many years been expanded to become the second largest zinc smelter in the USA (100,000 tonnes per annum). Due to the closure of the last of the local zinc mines, the smelting operations were suspended at the end of 2005.

In May 2006, BRZ was purchased by the Group for US$14 million. Ultimately, the Group’s plan is to use the plant for the production of zinc metal. Initially, however the site will be used to wash the impure concentrates produced by the recycling business to remove the chlorides and fluorides to enable the sale of zinc concentrates to third parties.

BRZ is currently on care and maintenance while ZincOx carries out design and engineering work for the treatment at BRZ of the zinc bearing concentrate to be produced at the Ohio and Aliaga recycling plants.

For more photos of the project please click here.

For the BRZ website and details of local employment opportunities please click here.

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