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The extractive metallurgy of zinc - By Roderick J. Sinclair

Article · January 2006

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 THE EXTRACTIVE METALLURGY OF ZINC

Roderick J. Sinclair

Reviewed by Chris Fountain1

Word Count = 741

Our civilisation and, consequently, preservation of the global environment depend on

the mining industry. Without our industry, it would be impossible to support the 6.5 billion

people currently living around the world, and the consequences of the collapse of our

modern agricultural and distribution systems on the environment are almost too horrible to

contemplate.

Perversely, our industry – so important for the well-being of the planet – has

endured a period of severe stress. Among other things, the record low metal prices during

the 1990s have forced the closure of many mines and smelters and the consolidation of a

multitude of medium-sized companies into a few large ones. As a result, employment

opportunities within the industry decreased dramatically, companies cut back graduate

recruitment and development, and universities around the world closed their mining and

metallurgy departments.

The lack of graduate development and the tendency for graduates to move into

management positions without developing a deep understanding of the technology of the

mining industry have led to a decrease in the technical operating competencies. As the last

generation to receive solid technical development is heading toward retirement, the industry

is in danger of a skills crisis at a time when metal prices have increased significantly. There

is an urgent need to capture and pass on the knowledge of senior members of the industry.

1
Group Manager – Technology, Iluka Resources Limited.
 Rod Sinclair’s The Extractive Metallurgy of Zinc provides an admirable example of

how this might be done. Sinclair had a distinguished career with Electrolytic Zinc and then

Pasminco, culminating in the position of General Manager – Technology Development. He

has a broad practical knowledge of zinc metallurgy, and he has set out to capture that

knowledge for the benefit of future generations. His goal was to provide the reader with the

background and context of the various unit operations used in zinc metal production, and to

explain when a particular production route might be more appropriate in certain

circumstances than other options.

The book begins with an overview of the zinc industry, including the uses of zinc, the

distribution of mining and smelting activities around the world, and the history of the

development of zinc production. While its primary focus is on the extraction of zinc from

concentrates, with a particular emphasis on the electrolytic zinc process, the book does

provide a basic discussion of zinc concentrate production and normal commercial terms for

their sale to smelters.

Sinclair provides descriptions of the chemistry, thermodynamics, and the various

types of equipment that are, or have been, used in zinc production. For example, the

chapter on roasting begins with a discussion of the chemistry and thermodynamics before

launching into a discussion of various types of roasting methods and descriptions of

equipment used through the ages. The description includes a discussion of the principles of

fluid bed reactors and critical control factors. Nineteen pages of the book are devoted to the

principles and practices of solution purification in the electrolytic zinc process. The appendix

contains tabulated thermodynamic data for the compounds involved in zinc extraction.

The Extractive Metallurgy of Zinc also includes sections on potential zinc production

technology, including the Warner process and the Outokumpu Iron Melt Reduction process.
 Strangely, it does not include the BUKA Zinc Process, of which Sinclair is a co-inventor. The

work would also have benefited from a discussion of some of the analytical methods used to

determine the concentrations of impurities at the very low levels needed in the electrolytic

zinc process.

The AusIMM has published the book as a PDF file on CD ROM, presumably because

of the reduced printing and distribution costs. This makes the volume convenient to carry

and store, and easy to search for key words; however, it would have benefited from having

the listings in the ample index hyperlinked to the target pages. Some tables are split across

pages; this could often have been avoided by a final check before the CD was burned, and it

would have been more convenient for the reader if the long tables that do not fit on a single

page had the heading row repeated at the top of each new page.

These minor niggles do not detract from the overall quality of this impressive work.

Sinclair and his sponsor, Zinifex Australia Limited, and the AusIMM’s technical review panel

are to be congratulated for its creation. I thoroughly recommend the volume to mining

industry professionals at all stages of their careers, from students and graduates to

experienced industry consultants.

THE END

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