Last year was an exciting year for zinc, the best-performing LME metal, with prices surging almost 60 percent. That said, market participants are optimistic about the base metal this year, as supply falls and demand continues to rise. In November, a growing demand from China and speculations about the US president Trump's infrastructure plans supported the steepest climb for the metal since 2009, with prices reaching a peak of $ 2985 per tonne. Currently prices are sitting at $ 2768 per tonne, but analysts and CEO continue to be positive about the metal's prospects for 2017. On the supply side, the closure of two main mines in 2015, Century and Lisheen, that together produced approximately 0.6 mill, t of mined metal, had a big impact on the market. Production cuts from other mines, including Glencore and Nyrstar also allowed prices to soar. To add to the curbed supply, China has recently ordered the closure of 26 smaller mines due to environmental concerns. With that in mind, it's interesting to look at the world's three top zinc mines and here's an overview of each of them.
展开▼
