Nyrstar NV, a subsidiary of Nyrstar Hobart, and the Tasmanian government, have signed a binding agreement for the key terms of a funding and support package to support the Hobart smelter. In total, Nyrstar is investing $A52 million on four important growth projects at the Hobart smelter. Two of these projects will significantly increase the smelter’s capacity to treat more complex concentrates following the closure of the Century mine by the end of 2015, which currently supplies the smelter.
These projects are well advanced, according to the company, and should be commissioned during the second half of 2015. The remaining projects relate to the upgrade of materials handling equipment and the addition of a side-leach plant that will enable the smelter to treat zinc oxide from Nyrstar Port Pirie, splitting base metals (zinc and lead) from minor metals (indium and germanium), enhancing the site’s operational link with Nyrstar Port Pirie and the broader global metals processing network.
Nyrstar and the Tasmanian government have also signed a grant deed under which the government will contribute toward Nyrstar Hobart’s committed groundwater remediation and interception program, capped at EUR 3.5 million. Reimbursement is expected to commence in 2016 and end in 2019, when the program is expected to be complete.
