Galvanising the globe with Zinc
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The Mettle of Zinc
Vedanta Zinc is the largest integrated zinc-lead miner in the world.
Our 50+ years of operational expertise, groundbreaking technology, and thrust for innovation help us to be accountable for the safety of our people and the conservation of scarce natural resources.
Vedanta holds a 64.9% stake in Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL) and its integrated zinc operations hold 75% market share in India’s primary zinc market. Hindustan Zinc is the 5th largest silver producer globally with an annual production of ~714 tonnes in FY'23.
Listed on the NSE and BSE in India, Hindustan Zinc has built a sustainable underground mining business capable of delivering superior performance with operations comprising 5 zinc-lead mines, 1 rock-phosphate mine, 4 hydrometallurgical zinc smelters, 2 lead smelters, 1 pyro metallurgical zinc-lead smelter, and sulphuric acid and captive power plants in northwest India. Hindustan Zinc’s mining capacity post-expansion will take our mined metal capacity from 1.2 million tonnes to 1.35 million tonnes per annum.
Vedanta Zinc International’s (VZI) operations consist of the Skorpion Zinc mine and refinery in Namibia, Lisheen mine in Ireland, and Black Mountain Mining (BMM) Limited in South Africa. The grouping of zinc assets located in South Africa and Namibia is the largest single stream zinc beneficiation plant in terms of ore throughput in the world.
BMM comprises two underground shafts – Deeps and Swartberg - and a processing plant. The Deeps shaft produces copper, lead and zinc, with silver as a by-product. The Swartberg shaft produces primarily copper and lead, with silver as a by-product.
With a 100% interest in Skorpion and a 78% interest in BMM, Vedanta Zinc International’s goal is to create an integrated, world-class regional zinc complex. VZI employs nearly 2700 people of which ~99% are local South Africans.
- Zinc is the 4th most widely used metal in the world
- Due to its strong anticorrosive properties, zinc is used to strengthen automobile, metro rail, and urban transportation infrastructure
- Zinc is widely used in galvanising for construction, die-casting alloys, brass, oxides, and chemicals
- 65 - 70% of the demand for zinc in India comes from galvanising steel, predominantly used in the construction and infrastructure sectors
- India is estimated to have 10 million tonnes of zinc reserves
- 0.4 kg per capita of zinc is consumed in India presently
- Demand for zinc is expected to grow at 3 to 4 % CAGR in India
- Zinc will aid the growth urbanisation plans in India at a CAGR of 1.4% by 2030
- VZI Deeps shaft’s annual production is of the order of 102Ktpa of zinc-equivalent metal-in-concentrate
- VZI Swartberg’s annual production is of the order of 13.5Ktpa of metal-in-concentrate
Driving growth sustainably
The zinc, lead, and silver that Hindustan Zinc produces are integral to modern life. From the homes we live in, the buildings we work in, the cars we drive, the bridges we cross, the transmission towers we need, and countless other facets in between – Zinc, lead & silver products give form and function to so much that we use in our daily lives. To cope with the ever-growing need for more resources, Hindustan Zinc’s goal is to increase overall production from underground zinc mines.
While focusing on resources the world needs, Hindustan Zinc has taken actions and invested to reduce the undesirable impact on the environment caused due to mining operations. Hindustan Zinc continues to strengthen its programmes that are delivering holistic societal well-being through Khushi, Nand Ghar, Shiksha Sambal, skill development programmes, women empowerment-Sakhi, rural sports, and livelihood initiatives.
In a nutshell, with its diversified portfolio, strategy, and aspiration to build mines with world-class technology and to reduce the impact on the environment, Hindustan Zinc continues to transform for good.
Our unwavering focus on 3S – Safety, Sustainability, and Smart Mining, helps us deliver unprecedented outcomes. The increased use of cutting-edge technology and digitalisation, coupled with continuous adoption of best practices from across the globe, help us in delivering target run rates, while also staying at the lower end of the global cost curve. Innovation, streamlining consumption, better planning, operational discipline, sustained cost optimization efforts, strict capital allocation, favorable commodity sourcing, redesigning and renegotiating some of our contracts and rigorous benchmarking further help us push the bar of excellence.
Arun Misra
Chief Executive Officer
Zinc Business
Vision
To be the world’s largest and most admired Zinc, Lead & Silver Company.
