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USA - OHIO RECYCLING PROJECT

The development of the Ohio Recycling Project (ORP) is currently on hold pending a new funding plan.  The company raised $70m for the development of the project in 2010 and is seeking ways of reducing this capital cost so as to facilitate a new financing package, or involvement of a joint venture partner in ORP. ORP is the most advanced of the company’s EAFD recycling projects and it will include a concentrate upgrading facility at Big River Zinc (BRZ). The ORP and upgrading facility is being developed at a cost currently estimated to be US$179 million, including working capital and contingency. Assuming a long term zinc price of US$1,800 per tonne and a pig iron price of US$400 per tonne, it is expected to generate annual earnings of US$26 million (post tax, depreciation and interest payable).

ORP will comprise a rotary hearth furnace and a submerged arc electric melter. It is planned to treat 200,000 tonnes per year of electric arc furnace dust (EAFD) containing an average grade of about 24% zinc. ORP will produce 70,000 tonnes per annum of a lead bearing zinc oxide concentrate (68% zinc), together with 56,000 tonnes per annum of pig iron and 55,000 tonnes per annum by-product slag.
 
In January 2010, ZincOx 's wholly owned US subsidiary, ZIRO purchased for US$4million, the equipment of a major waste iron oxide recycling operation from Severstal, North America.  The acquisition includes equipment for materials handling, storage, mixing, briquetting, coal preparation and a 28 metre rotary hearth furnace.  The equipment is in excellent condition and it can be reconfigured to provide most of the plant for a revised ORP capable of treating 175,000 tpa EAFD.  A study to remodel the ORP project is underway.

Artist Impression of Planned Plant
 
 

In November 2007, a seven hectare plant site was purchased at Delta, in Fulton County, north-west Ohio and in March 2008 the last of the environmental and other permits were granted and site preparation is underway. The project has been awarded local grants and tax incentives. The strategically located site is well positioned for rail and road transportation networks as well as having good access to power, water and gas.  

The zinc concentrate will be transported to Big River Zinc (BRZ) for further upgrading, the pig iron will be sold back to the steel mills from where the EAFD originated and the inert slag can be sold to the construction industry.
 
ORP’s zinc oxide concentrate is high grade but it contains halides (chlorides and fluorides) that are poisonous to conventional smelters. The halides will be removed from the zinc concentrate by washing at the BRZ electro-refinery facility. The interim strategy is to sell the washed product to existing zinc refineries, but ultimately the BRZ facility will be refurbished so that metal may be produced from this concentrate.
 
BRZ already has a small but fully permitted washing plant. While most of the plant is currently on care and maintenance, the washing plant is upgrading oxide concentrates for third parties. For the treatment of 70,000 tonnes per annum of zinc concentrate a new washing plant will be required. This facility will produce 66,000 tonnes a year of very high quality zinc oxide concentrate (72% zinc) suitable for sale to third parties. This oxide concentrate will have the unique advantage that it can be fed into the leach circuits of conventional zinc electro-refineries without prior roasting and this has the potential to increase production without significant additional capital expenditure.