Unloved for so long, zinc is back in fashion, with investors showing great affection for the bluish-white lustrous metallic element. Used to galvanise and protect steel from corrosion, zinc has jumped 40% this year to make it the best-performing industrial metal, according to Bloomberg. Currently trading in the $2 220/t to $2 400/t range in London and Shanghai, zinc seems poised to reach even greater heights. In South Africa, London-listed Indian company Vedanta is advancing the Gamsberg zinc project, which it bought from a disinvesting Anglo American five years ago. Ground-breaking at Gamsberg has signalled the start of an eventual 250 000 t/y opencast operation near the mining town of Aggeneys.