Rampura Agucha Mine is the world's largest zinc mine with an annual ore production capacity of 6.0 million tonnes. In FY 2010, Rampura Agucha produced 612.94 kt of contained zinc and 55.10 kt of contained lead. The successful commissioning of 1 mtpa concentrator in March 2010, has enhanced its ore production capacity from 5.0 million tonnes per annum to 6.0 million tonnes per annum. Rampura Agucha is also one of the lowest cost zinc producer globally

Rampura Agucha is an open-pit mine, commissioned in 1991. It is located 230 kms north of Udaipur, in the State of Rajasthan in India. Rampura Agucha is stratiform, sediment-hosted, high grade zinc & lead deposits. The ore body is massive and lens shaped. Ore grade is consistent and is not deteriorating as we move down. Reserves and resources of Rampura Agucha Mine as on 31^st March 2010 are 120.4 million tonnes.

The mine is equipped with the world-class infrastructural facilities including the latest generation slope monitoring radar system; truck dispatch system; in-house central workshop and heavy vehicle service centre and repair shop equipped with requisite facilities.

The management system of Rampura Agucha comprises of : the Quality System ISO 9001:2008, the Environmental System ISO 14001:2004 and the Occupational Health, Safety Management System OHSAS 18001:2007, SA 8000:2008 and 5S Certifications.

Mining:

The mine is highly mechanized with 34 m³ excavator and 240 ton dumpers, for excavation of ore and waste.

Processing:

Processing facilities use rod mill - ball mill combination in stream I; Semi-Autogenous Grinding (SAG) mill - ball mill combination in stream II & III; and flotation methods to produce zinc and lead concentrates. Mine's concentrator is equipped with the state-of-art-automation which includes the Experion process control system; Multi stream analyzer to ensure faster & accurate readings of different metal percentages in the various streams and Froth image analyzer that provides actual image of froth bubbles to facilitate effective quality control.

Zinc and lead concentrates produced at Rampura Agucha are transferred to our smelters. The tailing generated due to beneficiation of ore are stored in specially constructed tailing dam which is considered as the most compatible on-site storage facility for long term disposal of tailings. The base of the tailing dam is fully sealed by the application of a layer of impervious soil at bottom. After settling the tailings water gets recycled to plant thus maintain zero discharge.

Sindesar Khurd Mine has a reserves and resources base of over 60 million tonnes. Sindesar Khurd has annual ore production capacity of 0.50 million tonnes and achieved a production level of 19.75 kt of contained zinc and 8.04 kt of contained lead in FY 2010. We plan to increase the current ore production capacity of Sindesar Khurd from 0.50 mtpa to 1.50 mtpa.

Sindesar Khurd is an underground mine, commissioned in 2006. It is located 82 kms north-east of Udaipur, in the State of Rajasthan in India. Sindesar Khurd is a high silver content mine and the ore body is uniform and has a good zinc and lead grade. Total reserves and resources are 60.8 million tonnes as on 31^st March 2010.

The mine has excellent infrastructural & software support. The ore produced at Sindesar Khurd Mine is presently processed at Rajpura Dariba Mine's beneficiation plant. It will be processed at Sindesar Khurd Mine after commissioning of its beneficiation plant.The mine is equipped with world-class infrastructural facilities including the latest and the best machineries; in-house central workshop vehicle service centre and repair shop equipped with requisite facilities.

The management system of Sindesar Khurd comprises of: the Quality System ISO 9001:2008, the Environmental System ISO 14001:2004 and the Occupational Health, Safety Management System OHSAS 18001:2007, SA 8000:2008 and 5S Certifications.

Mining:

Sindesar Khurd is having access to the mine through an inclined ramp. Mining method is blast hole open stoping. After hauling from underground its ore is transported at surface upto Rajpura Dariba Mine for benificiation.

Processing:

The ore is crushed at the surface and transported to the beneficiation plant of Rajpura Dariba for further crushing; milling; and flotation process.

Zinc and lead concentrates produced are transferred to our smelters. The tailing generated due to beneficiation of ore are stored in specially constructed tailing dam which is considered as the most compatible on-site storage facility for long term disposal of tailings. The base of the tailing dam is fully sealed by the application of a layer of impervious soil at bottom. After settling the tailings water gets recycled to plant thus maintain zero discharge.

Rajpura Dariba Mine has annual ore production capacity of 0.90 million tonnes and achieved a production level of 21.96 kt of contained zinc and 5.35 kt of contained lead in FY 2010. Bulk concentrate production at Rajpura Dariba has resulted in significant recovery improvements in Zinc, Lead and Silver.

Rajpura Dariba Mine is an underground mine, commissioned in 1983. It is located about 75 kilometers north-east of Udaipur in the State of Rajasthan in India and is well connected with roads. Water requirement is met from the Matrikundia dam on Banas River. Power requirement is met by our captive power plants. Any shortfall is met by the State grid. Total Reserves and Resources are 42.2 million tonnes as on 31^st March 2010.

The mine is equipped with world-class infrastructural facilities including the latest and the best machineries; in-house central workshop vehicle service centre and repair shop equipped with requisite facilities.

The management system of Rajpura Dariba comprises of: the Quality System ISO 9001:2008, the Environmental System ISO 14001:2004 and the Occupational Health, Safety Management System OHSAS 18001:2007, SA 8000:2008 and 5S Certifications.

Mining:

Mining is carried out using the Vertical Crater Retreat method and Blast Hole Stoping method with mined out stopes backfilled with cemented tailings.

Processing:

The ore is crushed underground before being hoisted to the surface. It is then crushed again and milled before undergoing a flotation process, to produce the concentrate.

Zinc and lead concentrates produced are transferred to our smelters. The tailing generated due to beneficiation of ore are stored in specially constructed tailing dam which is considered as the most compatible on-site storage facility for long term disposal of tailings. The base of the tailing dam is fully sealed by the application of a layer of impervious soil at bottom. After settling the tailings water gets recycled to plant thus maintain zero discharge.

Zawar Mines have annual ore production capacity of 1.20 million tonnes and achieved a production level of 28.12 kt of contained zinc and 17.37 kt of contained lead in FY 2010. Bulk concentrate production at Zawar Mines has resulted in significant recovery improvements in Zinc, Lead and Silver.

Zawar group of mines are one of the oldest mines and are located about 40 kilometers south of Udaipur, in the state of Rajasthan in India. Zawar group of mines have four mines - Zawarmala, Balaria, Mochia, and Baroi.

Zawar is very well connected with roads. Zawar's water requirement is met from Captive Tidi Dam. Power requirement is adequately sourced from its 80 MW coal based captive thermal power plant and 6 MW Diesel Generator set. Total Reserves and Resources are 61.2 million tonnes as on 31^st March 2010.

During the year, New Bulk Cleaner circuit of 64m³ was commissioned to sustain higher ore beneficiation at 4,000 tonnes per day and significantly improve recovery efficiency of metals. Drill jumbo with LPDT & LHD combination was introduced for mechanized development of the mine to improve safety as well as faster mine development. Several other projects and technical up-gradations were undertaken for enhancement in operational efficiencies and reduction in cost.

The management system of Zawar Mines comprises of: the Quality System ISO 9001:2008, the Environmental System ISO 14001:2004 and the Occupational Health, Safety Management System OHSAS 18001:2007, SA 8000:2008 and 5S Certifications.

Mining:

Zawar uses the open stoping mining method for the majority of its production with shrinkage stoping being used where the ore body geometry dictates.

Processing:

The ore is crushed underground before being hoisted to the surface. It is then crushed again and milled before undergoing a flotation process, to produce the concentrate.

Zinc and lead concentrates produced are transferred to our smelters. The tailing generated due to beneficiation of ore are stored in specially constructed tailing dam which is considered as the most compatible on-site storage facility for long term disposal of tailings. The base of the tailing dam is fully sealed by the application of a layer of impervious soil at bottom. After settling the tailings water gets recycled to plant thus maintain zero discharge.

The Chanderiya Smelting Complex (CSC) comprises

Chanderiya Smelting Complex (CSC) is the single largest zinc smelting complex in the world. Its current metal production capacity is 610,000 tonnes per annum (525,000 tonnes per annum of zinc and 85,000 tonnes per annum of lead). The main products are special high grade (SHG) zinc, continuous galvanizing grade (CGG) Zinc, prime western (PW) zinc and pure lead. It also produces a number of valuable by-products including silver and cadmium.

Our Chanderiya facility utilizes a combination of best proven technology and innovation to continuously improve environmental and operational performance. This approach has enabled us to be one of the largest and most efficient zinc and lead smelting complexes in the world.

Chanderiya Smelting Complex is located 110 Kms North of Udaipur in the State of Rajasthan, India. It was commissioned in the year 1991 with an initial production capacity of 70,000 tonnes per annum of Zinc and 35,000 tonnes per annum of Lead. In the past 6 years, the capacity of the plant has been expanded five folds to its current capacity of 525,000 tonnes per annum of Zinc and 85,000 tonnes per annum of Lead.

The Chanderiya Smelting Complex comprises of one lead-zinc Pyrometallurgical smelter, one Ausmelt lead smelter and two Hydro metallurgical zinc smelters (Hydro I & Hydro II). It employs state-of-the-art Roast Leach Electro-winning Technology in its Hydro metallurgical smelters, Imperial Smelting Process in lead-zinc smelter, and Top Submerged Lance Technology (Designed by M/S Ausmelt Ltd., Australia) coupled with Cansolv Technology for its lead smelter.

Chanderiya Smelting Complex also has 234 MW (77 + 77 + 80 MW) of captive thermal power capacity to supply the power requirements for its metallurgical operations. It also has 14.81 MW of DG set and 13.7 MW (9.4 MW+4.3 MW) of power generation capacity through waste heat recovery.

The Chanderia Smelting Complex is certified for Integrated Management System comprising of: the Quality Management System (ISO 9001:2000), Environmental Management System (ISO 14001:2004), Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OHSAS 18001:2007).The CSC is also certified by QCFI for FIVE - S workplace management system.

Roast Leach Electro-winning (RLE) process description

The hydrometallurgical smelting process is a roast, leach and electro-winning, or RLE, process. In this process, zinc concentrate is first oxidized in the roaster and the gases generated are cleaned and sent to the sulphuric acid plant. The primary output from the roaster, called calcine, is sent to the leaching plant to produce a zinc sulphate solution that is then passed through a cold/hot purification process to produce purified zinc sulphate solution. The purified zinc solution then goes through an electrolysis process to produce zinc cathodes. Finally, the zinc cathodes are melted and cast into zinc ingots.

Imperial Smelting Process (ISP) description

ZINC

The Pyrometallurgical smelter uses the Imperial Smelting Process (ISP), whose process starts with sintering, where Lead and Zinc concentrates, bulk concentrates ( a mixture of Zinc and Lead concentrates) are blended with oxidic secondaries and fluxes. The mixture is passed through the sinter machine to remove sulphur. The gas generated from the sintering process is sent to the sulphuric acid plant. The de-sulphurized output of the sinter machine is broken for size reduction before being fed into an Imperial Smelting Furnace, or ISF, where it is smelted with preheated met-coke and air.

The Imperial Smelting Furnace (ISF) is designed to simultaneously produce molten Zinc and Lead by smelting agglomerated Sinter with preheated coke and preheated blast air. Chemical reaction between air and the coke produces carbon monoxide and generate heat to smelt the metallic oxide in the charge into the elemental metal. Molten Lead falls into the bottom of the furnace from where it is tapped and sent for refining process. At the temperature of operation, metallic Zinc is formed as a vapor. Zinc Vapor passes through the Condenser where it gets absorbed by Lead .The lead is cooled to separate Zinc and the molten Zinc is passed through Double distillation column for further refining. Through this process, Zinc is produced as a major product and by-product is Cadmium.

The waste gases of ISF leaving the condenser after Zinc is condensed in lead pass through a gas cleaning system where they are cooled and cleaned of particulate matter. These gases contain carbon monoxide of low calorific value. After cleaning, Low calorific value is utilized in preheating the furnace blast air and in preheating the coke. Any remaining excess gases are passed through a Boiler for steam generation which is being utilized in plant operation.

LEAD

We have two lead smelters, one of which uses the Pyrometallurgical ISP process and is part of the Pyrometallurgical lead-zinc smelter described above while the other uses Top Submerged Lance Technology (Designed by M/S Ausmelt Ltd., Australia)

The Pyrometallurgical process involves the smelting of lead and zinc together as described under "Zinc Smelters". Lead removed from the Pyrometallurgical process is sent for further refining where it passes through a series of processes to remove impurities. In this process, silver is also produced as a by-product. The refined lead is cast into lead ingots.

Ausmelt process description

Our Ausmelt lead plant is based on Top Submerged Lance technology where lead concentrate is smelted directly in a vertical furnace along with flux. Lead bullion produced in this process is then treated in the lead refinery plant to produce high purity lead ingots. Off-gas containing sulphur dioxide gas is then cleaned and treated in the sulphuric acid plant.

Zinc Smelter Debari is a Hydrometallurgucal zinc smelter situated at Debari, about 13 kms from Udaipur, in Rajasthan, India. The primary product of Debari is High Grade (HG) zinc and it also recovers cadmium as by-product.

Zinc Smelter Debari was commissioned in the year 1968 with an initial production capacity of 18,000 tonnes per annum of zinc. In the past several years the capacity of the smelter has been expanded five folds to its current production capacity of 88,000 tonnes per annum of zinc.

Zinc Smelter Debari employs state-of-the-art Roast Leach Electro-winning Technology at its Hydro metallurgical zinc smelter. The plant has three roasting facilities, one leaching and purification section, one electrolysis and one melting and casting sections. It produces extra calcine an intermediate product which is supplied to the rest of the Hydro metallurgical zinc smelters.

Zinc Smelter Debari also has 14.81 MW captive power plants (Diesel Generation units) to supply the power requirements for its metallurgical operations; it also sources additional power requirements from our captive thermal power plants located at Chanderiya and at Zawar. It also has 6.5 MW of power generation capacity from Waste Heat Recovery.

The management system of Zinc Smelter Debari comprises of: the Quality System ISO 9001:2008, the Environmental System ISO 14001:2004, Occupational Health Safety and Assessment Series OHSAS 18001:2007, Social Accountability SA 8000 - 2008; and is also a 5S Certified unit.

Roast Leach Electro-winning (RLE) process description

The hydrometallurgical smelting process is a roast, leach and electro-winning(RLE) process. In this process zinc concentrate is first oxidized in the roaster and the gases generated are cleaned and sent to the sulphuric acid plant. The primary output from the roaster, called calcine, is sent to the leaching plant to produce a zinc sulphate solution that is then passed through a cold/hot purification process to produce purified zinc sulphate solution. The purified zinc solution then goes through an electrolysis process to produce zinc cathodes. Finally, the zinc cathodes are melted and cast into zinc ingots.

Zinc Smelter Vizag is a hydrometallurgucal zinc smelter situated at Vizag, in the State of Andhra Pradesh, India. The primary product of Vizag is High Grade (HG) zinc and it also recovers cadmium as by-product.

Zinc Smelter Vizag was commissioned in the year 1978 with an initial production capacity of 30,000 tonnes per annum of zinc. In the year 2003 the capacity of the plant had been expanded to 56,000 tonnes per annum of zinc through de-bottlenecking.

Zinc Smelter Vizag employs state-of-the-art Roast Leach Electro-winning Technology at its Hydro metallurgical zinc smelter.

The management system of Zinc Smelter Vizag comprises of international standards: the Quality System ISO 9001:2008, the Environmental System ISO 14001:2004, Occupational Health Safety and Assessment Series OHSAS 18001:2007 and Social Accountability SA 8000:2008.

Roast Leach Electro-winning (RLE) process description

The hydrometallurgical smelting process is a roast, leach and electro-winning (RLE) process. In this process zinc concentrate is first oxidized in the roaster and the gases generated are cleaned and sent to the sulphuric acid plant. The primary output from the roaster, called calcine, is sent to the leaching plant to produce a zinc sulphate solution that is then passed through a cold/hot purification process to produce purified zinc sulphate solution. The purified zinc solution then goes through an electrolysis process to produce zinc cathodes. Finally, the zinc cathodes are melted and cast into zinc ingots

In line with our vision to be cost effective and fully integrated, we have captive power plants at Chanderiya and Zawar with a total installed capacity of 314 MW. In addition we also generate power from our Diesel Generation (DG) units and Waste Heat Recovery Plants (WHRP) installed at Chanderiya, Debari and Zawar having a total power generation capacity of 35.62 MW (DG Units) and 20.2 MW (WHRP).

With respect to our green energy initiative projects, we have successfully commissioned 123.2 MW wind power plants in the States of Gujarat and Karnataka.

Power generation capacity (MW)	Captive Power Plant	Wind Power Plant	Diesel Generation	Waste Heat Recovery
Chanderiya (Rajasthan)	234	-	14.81	13.7
Zawar (Rajasthan)	80	-	6	-
Debari (Rajasthan)	-	-	14.81	6.5
Samana (Gujarat)	-	88.8	-	-
Gadag (Karnataka)	-	34.4	-	-
Total	314	123.2	35.62	20.2

Captive Power Plants

Operations and maintenance of our power plants have been outsourced to the world's renowned power plant maintenance and operations companies.

As a part of our power cost reduction measures, we have taken various initiatives to decrease the cost of coal, the main cost driver. We have been successful in obtaining coal via coal linkages, optimizing the blend of Indian and imported coal, keeping the auxiliary consumption at a minimum and operating the power plants at a high plant load factor (PLF).

Any surplus power generated is sold to the State grid and power exchanges.

Key statistics for FY 2010:

During FY 2010, total power generated was 2,473 million units (MU), an increase of over 25% as compared to FY 2009

Our persistent efforts in operating the plants in most efficient way have been recognized by way of various awards including, Asian Power Plant of the year Award, Best Emission reductions project in Asia, National Competition for Excellence in Water Management by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Innovative Case Study and Water Efficient Unit.

Wind Power Plants

We have 123.2 MW of wind power generation capacity in the state of Gujarat (88.8MW) and Karnataka (34.4MW). Both these plants are functioning efficiently and feeding electricity to the respective state grids.

Our wind energy mills have the state-of-the-art gearless synchronous wind turbine generator technology which facilitates higher power generation.

During the year, we produced 219.1 Million Units of wind power, marginally lower as compared to FY 2009.

Our wind energy projects in Gujarat and Karnataka have achieved the second highest per Wind Turbine Generator (WTG) power generation amongst the peer group.

Our wind energy projects at Gujarat and Karnataka are registered under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC’s) Kyoto protocol for Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Both the wind projects are registered with a CER potential of 223,000 per annum.

Central Research & Development Laboratory (CRDL) was established in the year 1977 and is functioning since then for the continuous improvements in operating practices and technologies, in order to meet the demands of highly competitive business environment. Our dedicated team at CRDL aims to establish the Company's image as a leading technology-driven company through in-house development of path breaking technologies and by working closely with technology leaders, universities, and research institutions in India and overseas.

The Research & Development area involves key value drivers to the business mainly pertaining to improvement in product quality and production processes to enhance metal recovery, reduce specific consumptions, waste management and metal recovery from by-products or intermediates. Six-sigma practices are being used for faster high quality outcomes in the research projects.

CRDL is recognized from Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) and listed in on-line directory of testing laboratories of American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM).

The management system of CRDL comprises of three international standards: the Quality System ISO 9001:2008, the Environmental System ISO 14001:2004, Occupational Health Safety and Assessment Series OHSAS 18001:2007. It is also a 5 - S workplace management certified unit.

Mineral Processing

Batch Testing Facilities & Continuous Testing Facility

Crushing, Grinding, Sizing, Gravity Separation, Froth-Flotation
Portable continuous stage-flotation testing (Mini Flotation) unit along with slurry pumping and reagent dosing systems

Mineral Processing Pilot Plant

Continuous basis, 2 TPD capacity, Stage-Crushing & Wet Grinding, Froth Flotation, Wet / dry grinding ball mill 4 MT /day

Extractive Metallurgy

Pyrometallurgy & Hydrometallurgy

Furnaces: Pit furnace, High temperature furnace

Lab scale leaching and downstream facilities, Pilot scale leaching plant (200 L & 1.5 m3 capacity)

Bioleaching

Laminar flow work-station, Autoclave, Incubators (Stationary and shaking), Cooling centrifuge (Normal and high speed cooling), Bioleaching Reactors, Bioleaching columns for bench scale testing.

Material Characterization/ Analytical

Petromineralogy facilities with Image Analyzer software, X-Ray Diffraction, X-Ray Fluorescence, Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (with GTF and vapor generation unit), UV-vis Spectrophotometer, Mercury Analyzer, Karl Fischer Apparatus for Moisture determination, Wet Chemical Analysis.

Quality improvement of the Rajpura Dariba concentrate by graphite reduction using pre-graphite flotation before bulk flotation circuit - Increased internal consumption of the concentrate with improved metal recovery.

Recovery of metal values from Sinter (HGP) dust – Validation of process flow-sheet and optimization of parameters. Under implementation.

Maximize bleed of the Magnesium (Mg) and Manganese (Mn) impurities from hydro smelters - Improved cell house performance.

Establishing Quality control protocol for Nigrosine in RAM

Successful implementation of 5–S workplace management systems. Revision of ISO certificate from 9001:2000 to 9001:2008 for Quality Management System (QMS).