The EZINEX~(~R) Process is the only hydrometallurgical process based on a chloride electrolyte that is able to convert oxidised zinc bearing materials into zinc cathodes without any pre-treatment and which has been successfully proven at industrial capacity. This paper describes the latest commercial developments and technical issues related to this technology. Laboratory work was begun in 1992 and subsequently led to the design and operation of a 500 t/y zinc capacity pilot plant in 1994. Based on the successful pilot plant results, an industrial plant, which directly treated 10,000 t/y of EAF dust, was built and successfully operated in 1996. Concurrently, a pilot plant utilising an induction furnace to convert zinc-bearing materials to valuable crude zinc oxides was built, tested, and successfully operated. This operation was named the INDUTEC~(~R) Process. The combination of the two technologies (INDUTEC~(~R)-EZINEX~(~R) Process) proved to be a powerful process for the treatment of EAF dust. The break-even for the combined process is at about 4,000 t/y of zinc. Cost figures concerning this process will be provided as well as information on the layout and flow sheet for a 50,000 t/y capacity EAF dust plant producing about 12,000 t/y of metallic zinc. The growing environmental pressure on steel producers concerning EAF dust disposal is providing a strong interest for these processes all over the world. The INDUTEC~(~R)-EZINEX~(~R) process can be also applied to the treatment of primary zinc calcines as initial laboratory evaluation has shown very promising results.
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