PbZn 2020: The 9th International Symposium on Lead and Zinc Processing: Lead and Zinc Future Outlook: Plenary Session
Sponsored by: The Mining and Materails Processing Institute of Japan, Nonferrous Metals Society of China, GDMB: The Society for Mining, Metallurgy Resourcce and Environmental Technology, Metallurgy & Materials Society of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy & Petroleum, TMS Extraction and Processing Division, TMS: Hydrometallurgy and Electrometallurgy Committee, TMS: Process Technology and Modeling Committee, TMS: Pyrometallurgy Committee, TMS: Recycling and Environmental Technologies Committee
Program Organizers: Andreas Siegmund, LanMetCon LLC; Shafiq Alam, University of Saskatchewan; Joseph Grogan, Gopher Resource; Ulrich Kerney, Recylex; Cheng Liu, China Enfi Engineering Corporation; Etsuro Shibata, Tohoku University

Monday 8:00 AM
February 24, 2020
Room: 15A
Location: San Diego Convention Ctr

Session Chair: Joseph Grogan, Gopher Resource


8:00 AM Introductory Comments

8:15 AM  Plenary
EPD Distinguished Lecture: "Around the Lead and Zinc Metallurgical World in Eighty Days" A Virtual Tour of World Lead and Zinc Operations and Technologies: Phillip Mackey1; 1Worley
    Lead mining and smelting dates back to antiquity, while zinc as an alloying element with copper as brass has a similarly very long history. Today, lead and zinc are produced in large or small tonnages in almost all countries of the world – and lead is the most recycled metal with one of the highest recycling rates of any material. The scale of lead and zinc operations and the type of technologies employed varies widely around the world. The present paper takes the reader on a virtual tour of the major lead and zinc plants throughout the world with a focus on metallurgical facilities. Operations and technology employed at each plant visited are discussed including a brief historical sketch. Future technology trends identified during the world tour are also discussed. The present author needed sufficient time for a thorough study tour and settled on eighty days - the same as that for the celebrated fictional story of world circumnavigation in the 1870s – a time when world lead production far exceeded that of other non-ferrous metals.

8:45 AM  Plenary
Evolution of Global Secondary Lead Production: Huw Roberts1; 1CHR Metals Limited
     Secondary lead is recovered from scrapped lead-acid batteries, old lead-sheathed cables and sheets and a variety of industrial and metallurgical wastes. A significant share of lead output from secondary sources derives from smelters that also treat lead concentrates, so-called primary smelters, which makes the task of estimating the overall scale of secondary lead production more difficult. Estimating the total volume of lead produced from recycling of scrapped batteries is further complicated by the fact that some of this activity still occurs in the informal sector in a number of countries. CHR Metals calculates that secondary lead production accounted for around 50% of the global total of refined lead production in 1990, but that this share has now risen to just over 75%. This represents an increase from around 3Mt in 1990 to 10Mt in 2018. At the same time global lead mine production has grown from 3.2Mt (lead in lead and bulk concentrates) to only 3.4Mt in 2018. This paper will trace the development of secondary lead production over the past 30 years highlighting regulatory changes and the shift in regional patterns of output. More particular focus will be on the changes in China over the past 15 years and, more recently, elsewhere in Asia. Reasons for under-reporting of recycled lead production will be examined. International trade in lead-acid battery scrap and other lead-bearing secondary materials will be addressed and consideration given to the environmental concerns and about such trade.CHR Metals’ outlook for lead mine and refined lead production to 2030 will be presented.

9:15 AM  Plenary
A Review of Zinc Smelting and Refining in North and South America: Stephen James1; E. R. Hamilton2; 1Nyrstar ; 2Limpact International
    A review of processing of primary and secondary zinc sources in the Americas has been compiled in conjunction with the PbZn 2020 Symposium. This review includes a listing of active processing facilities by location in the Western Hemisphere. Descriptions of key technologies used in these facilities are presented. The review considers trends and changes that have occurred since the PbZn 2010 Symposium. A discussion of likely changes in the medium-term future is also included. This paper follows the examples set by previous authors since 1970 and should serve as a reference for readers interested in the zinc processing industry

9:45 AM Question and Answer Period

10:15 AM Break