Zinc deposits have been exploited for thousands of years: the oldest known zinc mine, in Rajasthan, India, was established nearly 2000 years BP.
Pure zinc was produced in the 9th century AD; earlier in antiquity zinc was primarily used to alloy with copper to produce brass. This is because it is difficult to isolate zinc metal from its ore. At the temperature zinc is released from its ore it also vaporizes into a gas, and if the furnace is not airtight, the gaseous zinc reacts with the air to form zinc oxide.
Metallic zinc was smelted in the 9th century BC in India, followed by China 300 years later, and in Europe by 1738 AD. The methods of smelting in China and India were most likely independently developed, while the method of smelting developed in Europe was likely derived from the Indian method.
Zinc is mined both at the surface and at depth. Surface mining of zinc is typically used for oxide ores, while underground mining yields zinc sulfide ores. Some of the common methods of zinc mining are open pit mining, open stope, and cut and fill mining:
Cut and Fill stoping: A method of underground mining which removes ore from below the deposit. The stope is then filled with waste rock to replace the mined out ore to support the stope walls, and to provide an elevated floor for the miners and equipment to further extract ore from the deposit.
Global mine production of zinc in 2019 was 12.9 million tonnes, a 0.9% increase from 2018, with the increase primarily attributed to increased output from zinc mines in Australia and South Africa.
In 2020, production of zinc is expected to rise 3.7% to 13.99 million tonnes, with the increase due to increased production of zinc by China and India.
In 2019 global demand for refined zinc exceeded supply and resulted in a deficit of 0.178 million tonnes, while in 2020 there is an expected surplus of 0.192 million tonnes.
Major zinc producing countries ranked by their output for 2023Benthic macro-invertebrates such as crayfish and mussels represent a pathway for biomagnification, where the concentration of noxious materials within organisms at higher trophic levels accumulates as a result of consuming contaminated prey. In addition, benthic macroinvertebrate populations are frequently used as indicators of overall ecosystem health.
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