Zinc
Zinc is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table.
Zinc is the 24th most abundant element in the Earth’s crust and has five stable isotopes. The most exploited zinc ore is sphalerite, a zinc sulphide.
80% of zinc mines are underground, 8% are of the open pit type and the remainder is a combination of both.
Impure zinc metal was not produced in large scale until the 13th century in India when it was the 8th metal known to man. It was unknown in Europe until the end of the 16th Century.
The alchemist Paracelsus probably named it after the German word Zinke.
Work by Luigi Galvani uncovered the electrochemical properties of zinc by 1800. Corrosion-resistant zinc plating of steel (hot-dip galvanizing) is now the major application for zinc.
Over 11 million tons of zinc is produced annually worldwide. Fifty five percent of this amount is used for galvanizing to protect steel from corrosion.
Approximately 17% goes into the production of zinc base alloys, mainly to supply the die casting industry and 12% to produce brass and bronze. Significant amounts are also utilised in rolled zinc applications including roofing, gutters and down-pipes. The remainder is consumed in compounds such as zinc oxide and zinc sulfate
Many first-use suppliers convert zinc into in a broad range of products. Main application areas include: construction, transport, consumer goods and electrical appliances and general engineering.
Zinc is predicted to have a price resurgence in the near future - HSBC predicts the market will go into deficit later this year and recent ILZSG figures suggest the market may already be consuming more than it is producing.