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INTEC Zinc

The Intec Zinc/Lead Process is perhaps the most versatile of the Intec Process applications.

The technology has been demonstrated to efficiently extract and recover zinc, lead, silver and other metals from a range of mineral feedstocks and industrial wastes, including:

            √ zinc sulphide                              √ zinc oxide

            √ zinc ferrite                                  √ electric arc furnace dust

            √ concentrates                            √ minerals processing residues

            √ zinc carbonate                        √ spent pickle liquor

The dominant technology in the zinc sector is Roast-Leach-Electrowin. However, the sulphate system is often slow, with limited recoveries. It often requires high pressure processing and high temperatures, which is expensive. The resulting residues are often jarosite-based, which are not stable, and unleached metals may pose an ongoing threat to the environment.

The Intec Zinc/Lead Process has none of these problems. Operating at atmospheric pressure and low temperature (<100°C), over 99% of the target metals can be extracted from the feedstock with low residence times. Having extracted the metals into solution, there are then a range of options for product recovery to suit the individual project, including recovery as high-grade concentrates, oxidic products, or metal. The technology has no atmospheric emissions or liquid effluents, and following extraction of the valuable target metals, the solid residues are clean and environmentally stable. As a result, the technology offers considerable environmental advantages for the clean processing of zinc-bearing feedstocks.

For more information about the technology, please see Downloads: