China sets new standards for lead/zinc sector to improve control
Source: Platts
metalsplace.com
China has set down new standards for its domestic lead and zinc industry in an announcement on the website of the National Development and Reform Commission published late Friday.
According to the latest regulations, all new development projects in the lead and zinc sectors, including mining, smelting, and recycling plans, must abide by all requirements of the various state departments.
New lead smelting projects must have a minimum capacity scale of 50,000 mt/year, and new zinc smelting projects must have a minimum capacity scale of 100,000 mt/year.
Existing lead recycling plants should have at least a 10,000 mt/year capacity, and all upgrades and expansion projects in lead recycling must have a minimum capacity scale of 20,000 mt/year. New lead recycling projects must have at least a 50,000 mt/year capacity.
In the lead and zinc mining sector, new mines must have a minimum capacity of 30,000 mt/year and a mine life of at least 15 years. For medium sized mines, the production capacity should be at least 300,000 mt/year.
At the end of 2005, China had about 411 lead/zinc miners and 466 lead/zinc smelters. The country had a crude lead capacity of 2.2 million mt/year by end-2005, refined lead capacity of 2.8 million mt/year, and zinc capacity of 3.4 million mt/year.
Some Chinese analysts quoted in local press reports said the new standards were set as a move to eliminate old production methods and machinery, which were environmentally unfriendly. They were also set to improve the balance between supply and demand in the lead/zinc sector, and control blind expansions in lead/zinc smelting, which could result in excess capacity. The analysts believe the government aims to eliminate all old machinery and production methods by 2010, and then keep control of lead capacity around 4 million mt/year, with zinc at 5 million mt/year. |
