Data and analytics company GlobalData has forecast that worldwide zinc production will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 3.8% between this year and 2022. This growth will be underpinned by production increases and the opening of new mines in Canada, China, India, Kazakhstan and Mexico, and will result in total global production of 15.7-million tons (Mt) in 2022.
“After declining substantially in 2016, global zinc mine production increased in both 2017 and 2018, reaching 13.2-Mt and 13.4 Mt respectively,” pointed out GlobalData senior mining analyst Vinneth Bajaj. The 2018 production increase was driven by a 9.9% increase in Australian production, an 8.5% increase in Peruvian output, a 7.9% rise in Indian production and a 5.9% increase in the US.
The rise in production in Australia was the result of increased output from MMG’s Dugald River project (MMG was previously Minerals & Metals Group and is a subsidiary of China Minmetals Corporation, which holds some 74% of the company) and from the commissioning of two other projects. These were the New Century Mine (belonging to Australian miner New Century Resources) and the Hellyer Tailings Project (which belongs to Australia-based, but London NEX Exchange listed, NQ Minerals).
“However, the market has remained in a severe deficit, impacted by several mine closures and production cuts over price concerns,” he observed. Production of zinc in China was believed to have fallen, although only slightly (by 1%), as a result of environmental measures. China is the world’s largest zinc producer. The consequence was that total production was still 1.1 Mt below global demand, which had reached 14.5 Mt. Demand for zinc has been growing in Belgium, China, Germany and the US.
“Looking ahead, there are almost 100 zinc projects expected to commence operations between 2019 and 2022, of which around 24 are currently under construction, while the remainder are at various stages of development,” reported Bajaj. “Of these projects, around 15 are located in Australia, 11 in Canada, eight in Mexico, six in Peru, five in the US and four each in Kazakhstan, Russia and China.” With the forecast increase in production, the currently rising zinc prices should stabilise by about 2022.
Zinc has a melting point of just over 419.5 ºC and a boiling point of 907 ºC. According to the Royal Society of Chemistry, zinc was known to the ancient Greeks and Romans before 20 BCE, but rarely used by them. It was first recognised as a separate metal in India, and archaeological excavations at Zawar, in Rajasthan, have revealed (from the waste left by smelting) that it was refined there on a large scale from about CE 1100 to CE 1500. By the 1500s, zinc refining was also being carried out on a large scale in China. In 1668, metallic zinc was first extracted from zinc oxide in Europe, but the metal only got its modern name in 1746 in Germany.
Today, zinc is mainly used to galvanise other metals – for example, iron and steel – to prevent rusting. In turn, galvanised steel is used to make car bodies, safety barriers and street lamp posts, and in suspension bridges. Another important use of zinc is in the making of die-castings, which are employed in the automotive, electrical and hardware sectors. It is also used to produce alloys such as aluminium solder, brass and nickel silver.