Sulphuric Acid - NEWS - 1999
Updated May 18, 2005

Phelps Dodge Curtails Copper Production and Restructures Wire and Cable Business
Storage Terminal for Bulk Liquid Products at the port of Varna
Kvaerner awarded US$60 million sulphuric acid  plant contract in Chile
World's Largest Sulfuric Acid Plant Now Operating

Phelps Dodge Curtails Copper Production and Restructures Wire and Cable Business

PHOENIX, Ariz. - June 30, 1999 - Phelps Dodge Corporation today announced a wide-ranging plan to reduce costs and improve operating performance by further curtailing higher-cost copper production (including the temporary closure of its Hidalgo smelter in New Mexico), ...

During the third quarter of 1999, Phelps Dodge will temporarily close its Hidalgo smelter and the smaller of two
concentrators at its Morenci, Arizona, mining complex.

            This will result in the shutdown of the acid plants (Chemico Plant - 1070 MTPD and Lurgi Plant - 2040 MTPD) at this site.
            Source : www.phelpsdodge.com

Storage Terminal for Bulk Liquid Products at the port of Varna

April 29, 1999 - Union Minière Pirdop Copper JSCo, Bulgaria, and Oiltanking GmbH of Hamburg, Germany are in the process of
establishing a Bulgarian Joint Venture Company under the name of Oiltanking Bulgaria JSCo. The purpose of this company is to build and
operate a liquid bulk storage terminal in the port of Varna.

Oiltanking GmbH, a privately owned German company, is the world's fourth largest independent liquid bulk storage operator.
They operate over eight million cubic meters of storage capacity in 34 terminals in four continents and handle over 50 million
tonnes of liquid products annually.

Union Minière Pirdop Copper JSCo - a subsidiary of the Union Minière Group, a world leader in the non-ferrous metals sector
- is the major copper producer in Bulgaria with an annual copper production of 100,000 tonnes. The copper smelter in Pirdop
also produces about 460,000 tonnes of sulfuric acid. Almost all quantities are either delivered to the Devnya Plant of the
Bulgarian Agropolychim company or exported by vessels.

In the framework of an important investment project, the Pirdop copper complex will step up copper production from mid 2001
onwards. Concomitantly, the annual sulfuric acid production will increase to 700,000 tonnes.

The new storage terminal to be built and operated by Oiltanking Bulgaria JSCo will initially have a storage capacity of 18,000
cubic meters and an annual guaranteed throughput of 550,000 tonnes of sulfuric acid. The projected investment will involve an
amount of at least DEM 13 million. The realisation of the first phase of the project is expected to take 18-24 months.

Additionally, contacts with several Bulgarian and international companies have indicated a clear interest in using the storage
terminal for export and import of other bulk liquids, including petroleum and petrochemical products, vegetable oils, etc. The
terminal will become Bulgaria's first independent liquid bulk storage facility providing improved logistics to serve both the
domestic and the international markets. In the medium term, the storage capacity will be increased to 165,000 cubic meters,
allowing up to 2 million tonnes of products to be handled annually. This expansion represents an investment in excess of DEM
80 million.

Source : www.um.be

Kvaerner awarded US$60 million sulphuric acid  plant contract in Chile

March 15, 1999 - Kvaerner, the Anglo-Norwegian engineering and construction Group, today announced that it has been
awarded a contract to engineer, supply and construct a metallurgical sulphuric acid plant for Codelco, Division El
Teniente, in Chile. Kvaerner Chemetics and Kvaerner E&C will provide basic and detailed engineering,
procurement, construction services, and start-up assistance for the facility located at Codelco’s Caletones
Smelter, some 100 kilometres south east of Santiago.

The site is one of the world’s largest underground copper mines.  The new plant will reduce SO2 emissions from the smelter and
will complete Codelco’s environmental upgrade to meet pending government regulations. The EPC turnkey project will produce a
sulphuric acid plant to treat gases from the Teniente converter and two conventional converters at the Caletones Smelter. The
plant will have the capacity to produce 2,350 tonnes of sulfuric acid daily.

Kvaerner Chemetics in Vancouver and Kvaerner E&C in Santiago have begun design engineering work for the acid plant.
The Kvaerner Chemetics portion comprises process engineering, mechanical design and equipment, and is valued at
US$40 million, the balance being Kvaerner E&C’s detail engineering, construction, and bulk material supply. The
twenty-two month project schedule calls for construction to begin in June 1999. The plant is expected to begin operation by January, 2001.

Source : www.kvaerner.com

World's Largest Sulfuric Acid Plant Now Operating

 ST. LOUIS, MO (February 1999) -- Monsanto Enviro-Chem Systems, Inc. has completed the construction and startup of the
 largest single train sulfuric acid plant in the world. The Murrin Murrin nickel recovery project is owned and operated by
 Anaconda Nickel. It is located in Western Australia and is designed for 4400 M tons per day acid production. The plant
 incorporates Monsanto’s patented Heat Recovery System (HRS) which is currently in use in 15 acid plants throughout the world and  is designed to generate income for the plant from the steam and electrical power it produces.

 The Murrin Murrin Nickel/Cobalt Project is a $US675 million joint venture between the Australian company, Anaconda Nickel and  the large metals trading group, Glencore International. Monsanto Enviro-Chem designed, constructed and commissioned the project.   Managing a project of that size can have its challenges, yet the customer states that the project was commissioned and managed  with great success. Andrew Forrest, Chief Executive Officer at Anaconda states, "Monsanto rapidly constructed a major, sophisticated facility for Anaconda and provided prompt responses to commissioning challenges, so the end result was very positive."  Initially, the Murrin Murrin complex will produce 45000 tonnes of nickel annually; its operating costs are the lowest in the world.

Source : www.enviro-chem.com