Global Slag News

South Africa: Evraz Highveld Steel and Vanadium has announced plans to oppose court action by some of its major creditors, which want to declare the company's business rescue as invalid.

The company, which makes flat steel products, structural steel and vanadium slag, said that it has filed a notice of intention to oppose the further urgent court proceedings that East Metals and Mastercroft instituted against the joint business rescue practitioners of Evraz Highveld Steel and Vanadium and several other affected persons.

Zambia: BMR Mining has identified a new market for Waelz Kiln slag at its operations in Kabwe, Zambia. The ferro-silicate zinc slag can be used for the construction of building blocks. BMR has produced a test batch of building blocks, using an 80:20 ratio of slag to building sand, which has not resulted in the leaching of either lead or zinc.

BMR will submit an application for approval from Zambia's Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) to produce the slag for building and concrete production. The company is submitting an Environmental Project Brief, which is less complex than approval for an Environmental Impact Study. The application will be submitted in November 2015 and is expected to be approved by the end of 2015.

Once the company has received approval, BMR aims to sell the slag locally to limit costs. "We therefore anticipate BMR generating revenue in 2016, following receipt of ZEMA approval, from both the processing of Wash Plant Tailings and the Waelz Kiln Slag," said BMR Chairman and CEO Alex Borrelli. BMR assets in Zambia include the Chingola Tailings, Kabwe Tailings and Ndola projects.

Sweden: Ovako has signed a contract with NCC to supply steel slag to be used as ballast in asphalt. As part of the contract, NCC will buy 50,000t/yr for the first three years and then 85,000t/yr. The road surface should be quieter, more durable and more sustainable, according to NCC-run tests in Borlänge.

South Africa: Evraz Highveld Steel and Vanadium's bankruptcy protection practitioners have named International Resources Limited (IRL) as the successful bidder for South Africa's second-largest steel producer.

Hong Kong's IRL has offered US$26.2m to settle creditors' claims against Evraz Highveld Steel and Vanadium and US$1.49m as a payment to shareholders. IRL, which has interests in mining, forestry and real estate, would invest a further US$307m in the business over the next three to four years to refurbish equipment and build a 200MW cogeneration plant. The company would also increase steel production to pre-2008 levels of 910,000t/yr within 18 months. Following the completion of the capital upgrade, steel production would be increased to 1.5Mt/yr over the next three to four years. In addition, IRL intends to establish an ultra-high grade 23,000t/yr vanadium pentoxide production line. The commissioning of a 200,000t/yr titanium slag production line, producing 75% titanium, would further enhance Evraz Highveld Steel and Vanadium's production site.

Should IRL's proposal be accepted, the company would start production as soon as possible. As an alternative, IRL proposed to buy Evraz Highveld Steel and Vanadium as a going concern for US$26.2m. If neither of the two proposals is accepted, Evraz Highveld Steel and Vanadium would be wound down and creditors might receive between 10 - 14% of their claims.

India: The new blast furnace at IISCO Steel Plant, Burnpur, West Bengal has now produced 1Mt/yr of steel, in less than a year after its commissioning. Kalyani, the country's largest blast furnace, was established on 30 November 2014.

The 4160m³ furnace was built by South Korea's POSCO (Engineering and Construction) and India's NCC Ltd and can produce about 8000t/day. With an enhanced campaign life of 20 years, the blast furnace is equipped with systems such as pulverised coal injection, cast house fume extraction, cast house slag granulation, high top pressure operation coupled with top pressure recovery turbine, twin material bin bell-less top, waste heat recovery and conveyor belt charging system. It incorporates level-II automation and has twin flat cast house with four tap holes.

The environmentally-friendly furnace ensures minimum emissions and recovers waste energy to the fullest and also has a closed-loop cooling system resulting in almost zero water discharge.