15.7 Percent Growth In Lead, Zink Production, In First 2 Months

Tehran, June 14, IRNA – Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade said on Wednesday that 24,100 tons of lead and zink were produced in the first two months of the year (starting on March 21), showing 15.7 percent growth compared to the figure for the same period the previous year. In the first two months of last year, more than 22,800 tons of lead and zink were produced. In the early 70s, the demand for zinc and lead sheets and slabs in the country on one hand and the export of raw material including lead and zinc ores and concentrates on the other, encouraged the Iranian authorities to build plants for the production of these metals. In this connection, steps were taken which led to the incorporation of the National Lead and Zinc companies in November, 1981, and eventually construction of a lead smelting unit was started in 1992, at a distance of 12km from the Zanjan-Takestan road, with an annual capacity of 40,000 tons. Later, in 1999, a zinc smelting unit with a capacity of 15,000 tons per year was built next to the lead unit./end