Hindustan Zinc, a subsidiary of Vedanta, on Monday announced the setting up of a 10 MTPA tailings teprocessing plant as part of the Company’s overall growth plan to double the capacity.The plant will be set up at a capital cost of Rs 3,823 crore and aims to recover metal from the tailing dumps. “This one-of-a-kind plant, a first in India, will enable reduction of environmental footprint associated with traditional wet tailings disposal, enhance HZL’s overall mineral recovery and usher in improved sustainability,” the company said in a release.
Hindustan Zinc is targeting annual revenue in the range of Rs 62,000 crore to Rs 65,000 crore once its production capacity doubles to 2 million tonne, according to an investor presentation last week. The company, however, did not say by when it would double production capacity.
At double capacity, the production of silver is expected to rise to 1,500 tonne from around 700 tonne now. Silver is recovered as a by-product from the smelting and refining of zinc.
In June, the company had announced a capital expenditure of Rs 12,000 crore to enhance capacity at its smelter in Debari by 250,000 tonne, taking it to a total of 1.38 million tonnes. This capacity is expected to come on board in 36 months after the expansion starts.