More tests will be required before management of Cominco (TSE) is able to make a decision whether to modify and restart its QSL lead smelter at Trail, B.C., or convert to a Kivcet plant.
The company’s new QSL lead smelter started up in late 1989, but was shut down in March, 1990, because of process and mechanical problems. Cominco is operating its old lead smelter while tests continue to determine which process is best suited to Trail’s metallurgical requirements. A decision isn’t expected until year-end, or early 1993.
The QSL process supplier, Lurgi, is a division of Metallgesellschaft, a Germany-based firm, which holds indirect interests in both Cominco and Teck (TSE).
Officials from Lurgi, which recently met with Cominco representatives in Vancouver, are reported to be convinced that the QSL process, as evolved through operating experience at Metallgesellschaft’s plant at Stolberg, is suitable for Cominco’s requirements.
But Cominco said it remains “concerned” about projected QSL plant operating availability, as well as the rate at which the plant would have to be driven to achieve Trail’s production requirements.
More tests are planned to answer these concerns. In the meantime, however, Cominco intends to continue discussions for a commercial-scale test at a Kivcet plant at Kazakhstan, one of the republics of the former Soviet Union.
The company also operates a zinc smelter at its Trail complex where an initiative to reduce annual operating costs by about $50 million is under way. This will involve the loss of 500 jobs, as well as cost-cutting measures and efforts to reduce onerous property taxes and water licence fees.
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