Nyrstar Pursuing Transformation of Port Pirie Smelter


Owner Nyrstar will move ahead on plans to transform the Port Pirie primary lead smelter into a poly-metallic processing
plant capable of handling a wide range of feed materials
Nyrstar announced in early December 2012 that it has reached an agreement-in-principle with the Australian federal gov-ernment and the government of South Australia with respect to funding for a pro-ject to transform the company’s Port Pirie, South Australia primary lead smelter into an advanced poly-metallic processing and recovery center capable of processing a wider range of high-margin metal-bearing feed materials. These feeds would include internal residues from Nyrstar’s global net-work of zinc smelters as well as external waste streams containing precious and other non-ferrous metals.

Nyrstar had previously reported in July 2012 that it was in the early stages of investigating the technical and commercial merits of such redevelopment at Port Pirie (See E&MJ, August 2012, p.18)

Key elements of the Port Pirie transfor-mation project now include replacing the existing sinter plant with an oxygen-enriched bath smelting furnace, coupled to an electricity cogeneration facility and a new sulphuric acid plant. The project would be completed with only limited dis-ruption to existing operations and is expected to deliver a significantly improved environmental footprint through reduced airborne metal and dust emissions.

The Port Pirie transformation project is subject to completion of a final investment case, including detailed engineering stud-ies and final project documentation. Nyrstar anticipates that a decision to pro-ceed will be made in early 2014, with pro-ject commissioning currently planned for early 2016.

Capital investment to develop the Port Pirie transformation project is estimated at A$350 million, which would include A$150 million via a structured investment by third-party investors guaranteed by the federal government; A$100 million via forward sale of some of the incremental free metal units to be produced at Port Pirie as a conse-quence of the transformation; and A$100 million in direct investment from Nyrstar.

Nyrstar expects the project to deliver returns that meet or exceed its investment criteria for mining acquisitions and compa-rable to margins generated in the advanced-materials processing sector.

Independent of the transformation pro-ject, Nyrstar will also investigate the techno-logical and financial feasibility of a series of small, incremental investments to capture additional metal streams by installing addi-tional metallurgical circuits. Metals under consideration for such recovery include sele-nium, platinum, palladium, rhodium, anti-mony, germanium, indium and gallium. These potential investments would be driven by specific market opportunities and would be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

As featured in Womp 2013 Vol 01 - www.womp-int.com