More than 20 technical sessions will be held Monday through Wednesday as part of the International Symposium on Lead and Zinc Processing (PbZn 2020) technical program. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, programming will begin with a morning plenary session of invited speakers. Learn more about PbZn 2020 activities at TMS2020.
Lead and Zinc Future Outlook: Plenary Session
Date: Monday, February 24, 2020
Time: 8:00 a.m. to 10:15 a.m.
Location: Room 15A
Phillip Mackey, P.J. Mackey Technology Inc., Canada
Presentation Title: "EPD Distinguished Lecture: ‘Around the Lead and Zinc Metallurgical World in Eighty Days:’ A Virtual Tour of World Lead and Zinc Operations and Technologies"
About the Presentation
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. This talk takes the audience 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 presenter 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.
Huw Roberts, CHR Metals Limited, United Kingdom
Presentation Title: "Evolution of Global Secondary Lead Production"
About the Presentation
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 talk 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.
Stephen James, Nyrstar, USA
Presentation Title: "A Review of Zinc Smelting and Refining in North and South America"
About the Presentation
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.
Lead and Zinc Current Challenges and Opportunities: Plenary Session
Date: Tuesday, February 25, 2020
Time: 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Location: Room 15A
Maurits Van Camp, Umicore, Belgium
Presentation Title: "Our Common Future in Metallurgy"
About the Presentation
The world is fast transitioning to a sustainable way of living and working to overcome the current societal challenges. This common future is articulated by the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDGs will pull the metallurgical industry forward, making it an integral participant in the common future. Lead-zinc primary extraction continues to be a key source of technology metals, and lead-zinc metallurgy is enabling the circular economy of a wide range of metals and products. Both mining and metallurgy are essential in realizing the SDGs, although challenges lie ahead. First, the license to operate mines and plants and the license to sell products are provided by society at large. Society will only do so if it considers the lead-zinc industry part of the common future. Second, an industry-wide transition to the innovation economy implies a shared vision on education, research, technology and innovation that includes Industry 4.0 concepts, methods and tools.
Sabina Grund, International Zinc Association, Belgium
Presentation Title: "Material Stewardship for Zinc"
About the Presentation
The metals industry is faced with global challenges, among these finding a balance between environmental stewardship, economic development, and social responsibility, that require full participation by the entire metals value chain. The global zinc industry has a well-established, long-term sustainability program in place providing its customers, regulators, and other stakeholder groups with facts. For example, regular updates of the global zinc mining and smelting Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) provide practitioners with the most representative environmental footprint data for zinc. Furthermore, IZA conducts material stocks and flows analyses to characterize national, regional, and global recycling metrics. IZA’s sustainability activities are framed by the SDG Sector Roadmap for the global zinc value chain. It outlines the focus of the global zinc industry’s projects linked to Sustainable Development. The presentation provides an overview of the global zinc industries’ achievements, goals, and actions and identifies challenges that still lie ahead of this industry.
Liu Cheng, China ENFI Engineering Corporation, China
Presentation Title: "Lead and Zinc Smelting Technology in China under Green Development"
Schedule Update: This presentation will be delivered by Andreas Siegmund, chair of the PbZn 2020 Organizing Committee, on behalf of Liu Cheng.
About the Presentation
The metals industry is faced with global challenges, among these finding a balance between environmental stewardship, economic development, and social responsibility, that require full participation by the entire metals value chain. The global zinc industry has a well-established, long-term sustainability program in place providing its customers, regulators, and other stakeholder groups with facts. For example, regular updates of the global zinc mining and smelting Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) provide practitioners with the most representative environmental footprint data for zinc. Furthermore, IZA conducts material stocks and flows analyses to characterize national, regional, and global recycling metrics. IZA’s sustainability activities are framed by the SDG Sector Roadmap for the global zinc value chain. It outlines the focus of the global zinc industry’s projects linked to Sustainable Development. The presentation provides an overview of the global zinc industries’ achievements, goals, and actions and identifies challenges that still lie ahead of this industry.
Lead and Zinc Sustainability and Social License: Plenary Session
Date: Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Time: 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Location: Room 15A
Paul White, International Lead and Zinc Study Group, Portugal
Presentation Title: "The Global Zinc Market - Facts, Forecasts and Fundamentals"
About the Presentation
In recent years, a number of large zinc-producing mines, most notably the Century mine in Australia, have closed and this, together with a number of production cutbacks, resulted in a significant shortage in the market for zinc concentrates in 2016 and 2017. Since that time both greenfield and brownfield mine capacity have been brought on stream, including a resurrection of Century in the form of New Century Resources, and this has resulted in an alleviation in the supply tightness with a corresponding rebound in the treatment charges levied by zinc refineries. This presentation will examine some of the longer-term trends in mine supply as well as the potential for further new capacity over the next 2-3 years. It will also discuss trends in the refining sector, including whether or not a processing bottleneck is developing on an ex-China basis. Finally, it will provide an assessment of the drivers of and outlook for zinc demand.
Andy Bush, International Lead Association, United Kingdom
Presentation Title: "Developing a Sustainable Global Lead Battery Value Chain"
Schedule Update: This presentation will be delivered by Matthew Raiford, Consortium for Battery Innovation, on behalf of Andy Bush.
About the Presentation
Operating responsibly and helping to ensure appropriate management of the materials we produce is critical to meeting society’s increasing demands that materials are used responsibly, safely, and sustainably. Lead-based batteries represent the vast majority of global demand for lead spanning a wide range of automotive and industrial applications. Their high collection and recycling rate in the developed world is an environmental success story making this battery chemistry one of the most sustainable by meeting the demands of a circular economy. However, the industry is not without its challenges. This presentation reports on a major new global initiative by the lead and lead battery industries to apply materials stewardship and responsible sourcing principles to the lead battery value chain. The program aims to further enhance the reputation of these industries by adopting a common set of guiding principles, establishing continuous improvement goals and supporting low- and middle-income countries through sharing expertise on the environmentally responsible management of lead.
Claire Hassall, CHR Metals Ltd, United Kingdom
Presentation Title: "Regional Changes in Refined Zinc Output and Demand"
About the Presentation
Global refined zinc output has increased from 8.9Mt in 2000 to around 11.8Mt in 2019, an increase of almost 3Mt. Only 530kt of this increase occurred outside China, while China’s output increased by over 2.4Mt. The major expansion in China’s refined zinc production capacity took place in the ten years to 2010, with some further moderate increase to 2016, but there has been a net decrease in capacity since then. Refined zinc usage globally increased from 8.9Mt in 2000 to 12.2Mt in 2019, an increase of 3.3Mt, but China accounted for more than this total increase, effectively taking away zinc demand from the rest of world. However, China’s share of global zinc demand is now changing as its economy matures and, in the last three years, China’s demand for zinc has stagnated at best, and in some years has fallen significantly. Higher costs, more extensive and better enforced environmental regulations and the effect of trade disputes have seen China’s manufacturing industry more constrained, with some Chinese manufacturing companies now basing activities off-shore, and with other countries now better able to compete in world markets than in the initial 10-15 years after China’s entry into the WTO at the end of 2002. The last nine years have seen 13 zinc smelters outside China close, with the loss of close to 1Mt of capacity. The last greenfield zinc smelter ex-China was commissioned in 2010, and capacity expansions have taken place at a number of plants, notably in South Korea, Mexico, India, and Norway, compensating for capacity losses, but not adding to capacity overall. The next five years are expected to see growth in refined zinc demand concentrated in countries other than China, with South-Eastern and South Asian countries leading the way. This raises the question of where and how the additional requirement for refined zinc will be met and whether China will play any role in supplying zinc to these expanding markets. This presentation will provide an analysis of recent regional changes in zinc demand and supply as outlined above and examine the prospects for future zinc demand and the potential sources of additional refined zinc output globally.