Displaying items by tag: slag

France: The slag heaps or 'terrils' of northern France, including the Loos-en-Gohelle terrils that are now recognised as a world heritage site by Unesco, are being transformed for alternative uses like nature trails or heritage sites. At Noeux-les-Mines, there is an artificial ski-slope, according to the BBC.

At the village of Rieulay, the Chevrerie des Terrils, Julien Graf grazes his flock of 40 animals in the biodiverse terril brush. "This is what they call a 'pioneer' environment; an ecosystem in which vegetation is just beginning to re-appear. It's very rare. The goats prevent the terril from being completely taken over by trees and brush. That has happened in a lot of other terrils, where you can no longer see the black soil," said Graf. "Being black, the soil retains the warmth which encourages growth. The vegetation is tough and fibrous and that is perfect for goats. Goats don't like grazing on grass. They prefer shrubs and bushes like we have here."

A few miles to the west, France's most northerly vineyard was established in 2011 on a slag heap. In 2013, it produced 150 bottles and in 2014 it produced 300. Wine-grower Henri Jammet explained that much depends on the age of the slag: "The earlier the terril, the more is likely to grow on it. In the 18th and 19th centuries, they sorted by hand, so a lot of what got chucked aside still contained elements of coal and other minerals. Often the slag continued to combust quietly over the years, which ultimately created a soil which, while not exactly rich, contains fertile elements," said Jammet. "Obviously the soil is poor, but that is good. Vines need to struggle in order to bring out the best in the grape. Our wine is sharp because they don't have the sun up here to reduce the acidity and it's got the proper Chardonnay citrus notes."

US: Essroc, part of Italcementi, has acquired the Holcim (US) slag cement grinding plant in Camden, New Jersey, according to MarketLine. As part of the transaction, Essroc will also obtain Holcim's cement terminal in Everett, Massachusetts, US. Upon completion of the transaction, Holcim's staff in Camden and Everett will join Essroc. The transaction is expected to be completed later in 2015. The acquisition will allow Essroc to strengthen its position in the sustainable building products market.

South Africa: Steel maker Evraz Highveld Steel and Vanadium has reported a 21% drop in steel production for the second quarter of 2015, which ended on 30 June 2015, due to weak domestic demand and a surge of cheap Chinese imports, according to Business Day.

Evraz, which is currently in business rescue, said that hot steel production declined to 119,027t in the second quarter of 2015 from 150,510t in the first quarter of 2015. Hot steel output was 38% lower year-on-year. Vanadium slag output fell by 18% in the second quarter to 1.47Mt, mainly due to lower demand and excess supply.

"The domestic market remains under pressure as a result of poor demand further exacerbated by a surge of low price imports from China," said Evraz. During the first quarter of 2015, which ended on 31 March 2015, 488,000t of steel was imported, amounting to almost half of what was imported during all of 2014.

India: According to Reuters, KHD Humboldt Wedag International AG has signed a US$60.2m contract for equipment and services for eight slag grinding units in India.

India: According to local media, Sunvik Steels plans to expand its integrated steel plant in Jodidevarahalli, Tumakuru, Karnataka. The estimated cost of the project is US$86.8m.

The existing plant has three 100t/day direct reduced iron (DRI) kilns, a 12t/hr induction furnace based steel melting shop, a 100t/day roller mill, a 10MW captive power plant, a 2000bricks/day fly-ash brick plant and one 15t/day slag crusher and beneficiation plant. The proposed expansion will see the plant consist of one 200t/day DRI kiln, a 500t/day induction furnace based steel melting shop, a 500t/day roller mill, 5MW and 10MW captive power plants, a 300t/day blast furnace, two 100t/day tunnel kilns, a 2000t/day iron ore pelletisation and beneficiation, a 6000bricks/day fly-ash brick plant, a 100t/day fly-ash beneficiation plant and a 30t/day slag crusher and beneficiation plant. The project is waiting for environmental clearance.

Oman: Oman's government has approved the construction of an industrial hazardous waste handling and treatment plant at Sohar in the North Al Batinah Governorate, according to Mohammed Sulaiman al Harthy, executive vice president (corporate strategic development) of Oman Environmental Services Holding Company. The plant will be built at Liwa, not far from Sohar Port, home to the Sultanate's biggest heavy industrial hub.

The facility will handle the estimated 1.47Mt/yr of potentially harmful waste generated by the country's burgeoning industrial sector. It will serve as the cornerstone of hazardous waste management infrastructure being developed for the entire country and will include specialised landfills and transfer stations in Duqm and Dhofar Governorate.

According to Al Harthy, Sohar accounts for around 90% of the country's current industrial hazardous waste output, with significant amounts of slag being generated by the metallurgical industries operating in the industrial port and the nearby industrial park. Approval also been granted by the Supreme Council for Planning and Sohar Industrial Port.

The complex will include storage facilities and pre-treatment units. There will also be a dedicated waste solidification facility with 100,000t/yr capacity, alongside a physical/chemical treatment plant designed to process 1000t/yr of waste. A thermal treatment plant of around 50,000t/yr capacity is envisioned as well. Additionally, areas have been allocated within the site to accommodate 28Mm³ of industrial slag, which will be used for reclamation.

India: Rashtriya Ispat Nigam (RINL) is seeking partners to set up a joint venture 6Mt/yr cement plant in Vizag, Andhra Pradesh at a cost of US$472m. The government-run steel producer is currently in the process of floating a global tender inviting expressions of interest from interested parties.

RINL's interest in the project is to use fly ash and slag generated at its 2.9Mt/yr Visakhapatnam steel plant. Previously, RINL sought partners for the project in 2011 for a 3Mt/yr cement plant at a cost of around US$200m. RINL has since decided to increase the production capacity of the proposed project to over 6Mt/yr due the amount of fly ash and slag it produces. At present 1.2Mt/yr of slag is sold to local cement producers.

China: Chifeng Jilong Gold Mining plans to take over 100% of the equities in Chenzhou Xiongfeng Rare & Precious Metal Materials through a share offering and cash payment. The target equities were assessed at US$145m. Chenzhou Xiongfeng recycles metals like bismuth, silver, gold and palladium from nonferrous metal smelting slag. Chifeng Jilong Gold Mining will raise capital by selling shares to not more than ten investors and the financing will be not more than 25% of consideration for the deal.

India: There are plans to establish four major steel plants in the iron ore rich states of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Karnataka, according to Union minister for Steel, Narendra Singh Tomar. He said that the country aims to acheive 300Mt/yr of steel production capacity by 2030 and the proposed four new plants are expected to contribute with a total capacity of 20Mt/yr.

China: The total amount of steel slag generated in China was about 100Mt in 2014. At present, around 1Bnt of steel slag has accumulated in the country, but only 10% has been utilised for new purposes.