Sulphuric Acid - NEWS - 2002

Inco begins work on $115 million project to further reduce SO₂ emissions by 34 per cent in Sudbury
Cargill Fertilizer, Inc. purchase of Farmland Hydro, L.P. cleared
DA Calls for Independent Inquiry into Foskor Gas Leak
Simon-Carves to offer Noram-Cecebe Technology
DuPont Chemical Solutions Enterprise to Provide Sulfuric Acid Services to Motiva Delaware City Refinery
Noranda's Gaspe Smelter to Close Permanently
Blaze strikes WMC's Kalgoorlie nickel smelter
Cominco Reduces Zinc Production
Outokumpu Planning Summer Shut-Down at Kokkola Zinc Plant

Inco begins work on $115 million project to further reduce SO₂ emissions by 34 per cent in Sudbury

SUDBURY, December 3, 2002 – Inco’s latest investment in Sudbury promises significant benefits for the local environment – and the local economy.   The company is starting work on a $115 million project to further reduce SO₂ emissions from its Copper Cliff operations by 34 per cent using fluid bed roaster (FBR) off-gas scrubbing technology.

The project will lower emissions from the current limit of 265 kilotonnes annually to 175 kilotonnes annually by the end of 2006.  The first component is an expansion of the existing Acid Plant to handle clean SO₂ from the new gas-scrubbing facility. Work is underway on this portion of the project with an expected completion date of May 2003.

The second is a weak acid treatment plant at the Copper Cliff Mill Filter Plant to replace the current flash furnace slime system and allow for treatment of metals scrubbed by the gas-cleaning facility. This will be operational by the end of the first quarter in 2004.  The final component is a gas-cleaning facility built adjacent to the existing FBR plant at the smelter. This will be operational by the end of the first quarter in 2006.

Cargill Fertilizer, Inc. purchase of Farmland Hydro, L.P. cleared

TAMPA — Nov. 6, 2002 — A federal bankruptcy court in Kansas City, Mo., has signed an order giving final approval in allowing Farmland Industries, Inc.’s consent to the sale of substantially all of the assets owned by Farmland Hydro, L.P. to Cargill Fertilizer, Inc. Florida-based Farmland Hydro is a limited partnership owned equally between Hydro Agri North America, Inc. and Farmland Industries, Inc. On May 31, 2002, Farmland Industries filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Kansas City.

With the agreement, Cargill assumes complete operations of Farmland Hydro’s Green Bay fertilizer plant near Bartow, Fla. Cargill anticipates that it will retain approximately 270 of the 290 employees at the facility. As part of the agreement, Cargill also acquires approximately 15,000 acres of Farmland Hydro land currently being permitted for a phosphate mine operation. In connection with the sale, Cargill Fertilizer and Hydro Agri have entered into a strategic supply arrangement for the supply of ammonia by Hydro Agri, and MAP (mono-ammonium phosphate) and DAP (di-ammonium phosphate) by Cargill Fertilizer. Terms of the sale are not being disclosed.

DA Calls for Independent Inquiry into Foskor Gas Leak

CAPE TOWN July 17, 2002 - The Democratic Alliance has called on the Department of Environmental Affairs to conduct an independent investigation into an accident at a Richard's Bay industrial plant that resulted in almost 200 people being gassed.  The accident took place in the KwaZulu-Natal town on Monday afternoon, after a start-up procedure at a Foskor-owned sulphuric acid plant went wrong, sending a toxic cloud of sulphurous gas billowing across a busy public road.

Reports from the province shortly after the incident described the casualty departments of the town's hospitals as "war zones", with medical staff battling to cope with dozens of nauseous victims, many of whom had difficulty breathing.

In a statement on Tuesday, Foskor expressed regret over what it termed "an unfortunate incident".  It said this "was triggered when the new sulphuric acid plant... had to be restarted... after a brief shutdown earlier in the day".  "During the start-up, the stack emission unexpectedly descended to the ground, where it affected a number of people outside the plant."

DA MPL Margaret Ambler-Moore on Wednesday said her party welcomed news that Foskor was carrying out an internal investigation into the disaster.  "However, (we) also urge the Department of Environmental Affairs to carry out their own independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident."  Strong action should be taken against perpetrators of environmental damage, and more stringent monitoring processes were needed, said Ambler-Moore, who is also her party's provincial spokeswoman on conservation matters.

The department on Tuesday issued a statement saying it had called on Foskor for "a report detailing the reasons behind a sulphuric acid leak".  It is understood this report will be compiled by Foskor management, and not by independent inspectors. It is also not clear whether it will be followed by an inquiry into the accident.

Ambler-Moore said it was "frightening that... people have become victims of short-sighted planning on the part of Foskor, but even more disturbing is the fact that this scenario had already been identified as a possible worst-case scenario".  The accident "was clearly a possibility Foskor was aware of, and had to take into account in their decision to go ahead with the opening".

She called on the department to establish:

- what regular checks were being done at industrial facilities in Richard's Bay;

- what the existing pollution levels were in the area; and,

- what steps were being taken to prevent recurrences of such incidents.

A Pietermaritzburg-based NGO on Tuesday warned that exposure to certain sulphur gases could prove "dangerous to life" and one, sulphur trioxide, was potentially carcinogenic.  The environmental organisation, groundWork, said it was alarmed to hear of the release of such "an extraordinary quantity of potentially fatal sulphur gases into the atmosphere".  "For the sake of workers and members of the public who were exposed to chemicals during yesterday's leak, we would like to publicise the possible short-term and long-term health affects that should be anticipated," it said in a statement.  Sulphur dioxide could be life-threatening in concentrations of 100 parts per million (ppm) or higher.  Sulphur trioxide was very corrosive, and used in many industrial processes.  "Breathing sulphuric acid can result in tooth erosion.  "People who have breathed large quantities of sulphuric acid at work have shown an increase in cancers of the larynx.   Research had shown that occupational exposure to "strong inorganic acid mists containing sulphuric acid" was also carcinogenic, groundWork said.

Simon-Carves to offer Noram-Cecebe Technology

2002 - Noram-Cecebe announce that Simon-Carves Ltd. will be their exclusive worldwide technology licensee apart from the Americas and Australia.  Simon-Carves were recently a licensee of Enviro-Chem Systems (Monsanto) technology but terminated their agreement prior to partnering with Noram-Cecebe.

DuPont Chemical Solutions Enterprise to Provide Sulfuric Acid Services to Motiva Delaware City Refinery

DELAWARE CITY, Del., April 26, 2002 – DuPont Chemical Solutions Enterprise and Motiva Enterprises LLC today announced a business agreement in which DuPont would provide the Delaware City Refinery with sulfuric acid regeneration services.   Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

 

As part of the agreement, DuPont -- which has nearly 70 years of experience in manufacturing and transporting sulfur-based products -- would supply the Delaware City Refinery with sulfuric acid regeneration services by constructing a state-of-the-art replacement facility on the refinery’s property.  The unit will create approximately 25 new DuPont jobs to operate and maintain the facility.   Construction of the unit will be undertaken by DuPont after appropriate permits are obtained and will provide additional economic benefits to the Delaware area construction industry. 

Motiva determined it would be advantageous for DuPont to construct and operate a replacement facility at the refinery.  This would allow Motiva to focus on its core business of refining crude oil into finished products -- such as gasoline, diesel, and home heating oil -- and maintain its competitiveness in the refinery industry.

Sulfuric acid is used by the oil refining industry as a catalyst in the alkylation process to make high octane gasoline.  DuPont will recycle “spent,” or used acid, and regenerate it for Motiva’s use again in the refining process.   DuPont services to Motiva will be a combination of supplying sulfuric acid and taking back the “spent” acid to recycle at the DuPont-operated facility for Motiva’s future use.

Noranda's Gaspe Smelter to Close Permanently

March 28, 2002 - Noranda Inc. announced today that it will permanently close its Gaspé copper smelter, located in Murdochville, Quebec, effective April 20, 2002.  Noranda were unable to identify an economically feasible option that would enable the smelter to become more competitive and efficient for the longer term.

Blaze strikes WMC's Kalgoorlie nickel smelter

February 21, 2002 - Another WMC operation has been damaged by fire. This time it was the group's nickel smelting operations at Kalgoorlie.  The fire broke out in the sulphuric acid plant yesterday morning as it was being prepared for routine maintenance work.  No injuries were reported and the nickel smelter was not affected. WMC said the cause of the fire and the extent of the damage were as yet unknown.  Although the nickel smelter was not affected, its production levels in the near term could be affected by wind movements in the Kalgoorlie region.  That is because of air-quality considerations. Without the acid plant, sulphur would be pumped up the smokestack for wind dispersal, assuming the wind is blowing away from the town.

If the wind was not favourable, the smelter would be taken off line, as it used to be before the acid plant was built to meet tighter air-quality requirements.  WMC noted that planned production from the nickel smelter for 2002, before yesterday's fire, was below its capacity of more than 100,000 tonnes.   As a result, it expects to be able to recover "any short-term lost production over the duration of the year".  Last year, WMC's Olympic Dam copper/uranium mine in South Australia was hit by a fire in its solvent extraction plant. The loss in production there has forced a writedown of $45 million after tax, which will show up in the group's 2001 profit report, due to be released next Tuesday.  The profit is expected to reflect the impact of sharply lower metal prices, with a result of about $395 million tipped by analysts after knocking out a long list of one-off items, including the Olympic Dam hit.

Cominco Reduces Zinc Production

February 14, 2002 - David A. Thompson, Chief Executive Officer of Teck Cominco Limited, said today that the company will reduce planned zinc metal production by 55,000 tonnes in 2002. The Cajamarquilla zinc refinery (82% owned by Teck Cominco and 17% owned by Marubeni Corporation) will be closed for three months, June through August, reducing production by 30,000 tonnes. The Trail zinc refinery will be closed in August, reducing zinc production by 25,000 tonnes.

He said that zinc demand fell by 4% in 2001 and this has led to rising inventories. While consumption is forecast to grow again in 2002, it will take cutbacks such as these in order to bring supply and demand into balance.

On the concentrate side, the Red Dog mine is now scheduling shipments of 1,000,000 tonnes of concentrate in 2002, down from 1,060,000 originally planned, or a reduction of 33,000 tonnes of contained zinc.

Teck Cominco will work with its customers to minimize any disruption to their operations and Cajamarquilla will ensure that its Latin American and Japanese customers are supplied with the zinc they require.

Employees at Trail have been asked to use vacation time during the August shutdown period. Cajamarquilla will begin discussions with its employees, the unions and the relevant government departments to ensure that all employees receive fair and appropriate wages and benefits during the shutdown period.

Outokumpu Planning Summer Shut-Down at Kokkola Zinc Plant

February 4, 2002 - Due to the weak zinc market situation, Outokumpu is planning a one month production shut-down at its Kokkola zinc plant in Finland. The shut-down will not affect delivery volumes during 2002, as the reduction in production will be covered from stocks. The shut-down will take place in June, by concentrating most of the employees' annual holidays to that month. Normal annual maintenance work will be carried out during the shut-down.

Kokkola's annual zinc capacity, after the expansion last year, is 260 000 tonnes.