Boliden Kokkola Opens Silver Recovery Plant
- The SEK 250 million investment will produce 25 tonnes of silver annually.
- The project began in April 2012 to extract silver from zinc concentrates.
- The new plant will produce silver concentrate to be sold to refineries.
- Boliden Kokkola's zinc smelter has an annual production capacity of 315,000 tonnes.
Investment and Production
Today marks the official start of the new silver recovery plant at Boliden’s zinc smelter in Kokkola, Finland. This SEK 250 million investment (approximately €26 million) is expected to produce 25 tonnes of silver annually.
Project Background
In April 2012, Boliden initiated a project to extract silver from zinc concentrates, driven by higher silver content in the concentrates, including feed from the recently expanded Boliden Garpenberg zinc-silver mine. The new plant will produce silver concentrate, an intermediate product to be sold to silver refineries, with an annual output of approximately 25 tonnes of silver.
Operational Impact
According to Jarmo Herronen, General Manager at Boliden Kokkola, this new process will significantly enhance both profitability and raw material efficiency. Silver concentrate will become one of Boliden Kokkola’s most valuable by-products.
Facility Overview
Boliden Kokkola, with an annual production capacity of 315,000 tonnes, is the second-largest zinc smelter in Europe. The facility primarily produces pure zinc and zinc alloys, with most of its output sold to the European steel industry for use in the automotive and construction sectors. Additionally, half of the global silver production is utilized in the electrical and electronics industries, with other applications in photography and jewelry.