Skorpion Zinc

Skorpion Zinc is a <a href="/facts/Zinc/80b1qgk3">zinc</a> mine in the <a href="/facts/%C7%81Karas_Region/9HNTtWXv">ǁKaras Region</a> of southern <a href="/facts/Namibia/ahXuaypy">Namibia</a>, producing Special High Grade (SHG) zinc. The mine is situated near <a href="/facts/Rosh_Pinah/5azxMYg5">Rosh Pinah</a>. It was established at a cost of US$450 million by <a href="/facts/Anglo_American_plc/LcSAGqYe">Anglo American</a> in 2003. It is the tenth-largest zinc mine in the world, and the largest employer in Rosh Pinah, providing 1,900 jobs.
Skorpion is a unique mine in several ways. Firstly, it is a supergene zinc ore body composed of <a href="/facts/Alluvial/Bo78QRlp">alluvial</a> accumulations of zinc carbonate and silicate minerals of detrital nature deposited within a palaeochannel. There are no other currently commercially viable deposits of this type. It is also one of the few mines in the world that currently mines zinc oxides, a mixture of non-sulphidic zinc minerals such as smithsonite, hydrozincite, tarbuttite and willemite. Finally, it is the only zinc processing facility to use <a href="/facts/Solvent_extraction-electrowinning/rsxnmscg">solvent extraction-electrowinning</a> metallurgy to process and refine its zinc products (others using conventional <a href="/facts/Smelting/Ghdvhlga">smelting</a> and roasting).
The Skorpion SX-EW plant creates Special High Grade, ultra-pure zinc cathode as a primary product, which is so low in impurities that it commands a price premium.
In November 2010 the project was acquired by <a href="/facts/Vedanta_Resources/flL5uDaX">Vedanta Resources</a> at a cost of US$707 million. In 2019, Vedanta announced mining would be suspended for a four months due to technical problems. Then in 2020 Vedanta placed the mine on <a href="/facts/Care_and_maintenance/tR1c2yJP">care and maintenance</a> due to pit failures.

Skorpion Zinc open-in-new

Skorpion Zinc