OREANDA-NEWS. On March 16, 2007 Chelyabinsk Zinc Plant was pleased to announced that a new highly efficient, large-capacity Waelz kiln put into operation on March, 16th, reported the press-centre of  Chelyabinsk Zinc Plant. As a preparation for industrial launch of the kiln a gas burner was fired on the March, 12, the unit was set for drying and initial heating. The new facility will allow processing of additional 85,000 tons of secondary raw material a year. At zinc content in the feed of about 22%, the maximum load will enable CZP to raise annual output of zinc metal by approximately 18,500 tons.

Total investment into construction of the Waelz kiln facility #5 has been about USD 24 million.

The new facility will increase CZP capacity of treating secondary raw materials by means of Waelz processing, which had previously been undertaken with four other, less productive, Waelz kilns. This will not only completely solve the problem of processing all current zinc cake, but also utilize existing stockpiled cake, allowing the plant to additionally use other types of secondary raw materials for processing in the future.

The new Waelz kiln project was developed using CZP-patented technologies. The project applied the up-to-date technical solutions, which have environmental and energy-saving advantages. The most important environmental benefit of the new facility is prevention of acid gas (mainly sulphur dioxide) release into the atmosphere. This becomes possible due to reduced sulphur content in the processed raw materials, and due to usage of calcium-containing additives in the technological process.

Sergei Moiseyev, Chairman of the CZP Board, commented on the new facility launch: "The new facility is a part of the company's strategy aimed at reduction of dependence on deliveries of high-quality zinc concentrates and usage of secondary zinc-containing materials in processing. This will allow further increase in production capacity and efficiency of the plant." According to Mr. Moiseyev, "The project has been implemented within the CZP’s RR 1,8 billion investment program, previously approved by the Board of Directors. The program aims at de-bottlenecking the plant and allows us to reach a production level of 200,000 tons of zinc metal by 2010." Apart from construction of Waelz kiln facility #5, the program includes construction of a new sulphuric acid plant of capacity 100,000 tons/year, modernization of the roasting and leaching plants, and replacement of a part of the equipment at the other process stages for more efficient facilities.