Global Slag News

Sweden: Boliden is interested in extracting vanadium from slag heaps owned by SSAB. The mining and smelting company has reportedly been interested in this process for several years and has developed an extraction method. Boliden was due to be updated on the matter by SSAB in March 2016, according to Esmerk Swedish News.

However, Finnish company Mustavaaran Kaivos is considered the most likely to cooperate with SSAB. The company plans to relaunch vanadium extraction in Finland, and has developed a high temperature method. The development has been supported by SSAB, Swedish research foundation Mistra, Swedish mining company LKAB and Finnish steel company Rautaruukki.

Indonesia: Krakatau Semen is set to start producing ground granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS) at its Cilegon plant by December 2016. The joint venture between Krakatau Steel and Semen Indonesia is due to produce 300,000t/yr of slag powder, according to Bisnis Indonesia. The company has invested US$36m into building the plant. Construction started in 2014.

US: A site where Orcem California plans to build a US$50m slag grinding plant has been added to the Vallejo heritage list potentially adding planning complications to the project. Dina Tasini, the north Californian city’s planning manager, said that any possible future plans for the site must first receive a certificate of appropriateness, according to the Vallejo Times-Herald.

Orcem California, a subsidiary of Ecocem, is proposing to build and operate a slag grinding plant on the former General Mills flour mill site near to the Vallejo Marine Terminal. However, the project faces opposition from local environmental groups.

UK/Ireland: Ecocem is to open a new terminal at Runcorn to increase its exports of slag cement to the UK. A second terminal in the south east of the UK will be opened later in 2016, according to the Irish Times. It has invested Euro5m towards building both terminals. The ground granulated blastfurnace slag (GGBS) producer is targeting the UK market due to demand for cement coupled with changes in the coal and steel industries.

The company says it has received orders for 200,000t of slag cement in its first year and that it is not taking any further orders. Opening its second terminal in the UK is anticipated to give it access to 80% of the UK market. Ecocem produces slag cement at three grinding plants in Dublin in Ireland, Moerdijk in the Netherlands and at Fos in France.

Norway: TiZir Titanium & Iron (TTI) has commenced shipments of chloride titanium slag. It is produced using ilmenite from the Grande Côte mineral sands operation in Senegal GCO. Both operations are owned by the TiZir joint venture which is in tern owned by Mineral Deposits Limited in Australia and ERAMET in France.

The ramp up of TTI operations follows completion of the furnace reline and capacity expansion project in December 2015. It is anticipated that the upgraded furnace and water-cooled copper-ceramic roof will increase smelting capacity by approximately 15% and improve maintenance performance by lengthening periods between scheduled shutdowns.

The sale of chloride titanium slag and high-purity pig iron from TTI represents the final step in the vertical integration strategy of the TiZir joint venture. The TTI ilmenite upgrading facility has been producing titanium slag and high purity pig iron since 1986. Its current production capacity is 230,000t/yr of titanium slag and 100,000t/yr of high purity pig iron.