Scott Parry, Process Engineer
Our product is zinc concentrate, which comes from the mines. The mill separates the copper and zinc concentrates, with the copper going to the smelter and the zinc going to the zinc plant. The mill takes the zinc from five or six percent to 50 percent concentrate.
We further refine the zinc in the plant, using a hydro-metallurgic zinc pressure leach process with electro-winning and casting. We mix the concentrate with water and chemicals, and put all that under heat and pressure. This makes it easier to take out the ingredients we don't want.
We send the purified mixture to the cell house, where electricity makes the zinc collect into solid form. The final product is sent out to customers all over the world for use in various industries, from pharmaceuticals to tires.