OREANDA-NEWS. On 25 April 2008 Chelyabinsk Zinc Plant, Russia’s largest producer of zinc and zinc alloys, announced its production results for the first quarter of 2008.

January through March 2008, Chelyabinsk Zinc Plant (CZP) produced 42,270 tonnes of SHG zinc and zinc based alloys, an increase of 5.3% as compared to the same period of 2007 (40,146 tonnes). 48.1% of the plant output was supplied to the domestic market.

CZP’s subsidiary, Nova Zinc LLC, operator of Akzhal zinc and lead ore mine in Kazakhstan, processed 335.6 thousand tonnes of ore in January – March of 2008, 1.1% less than for the same period of 2007 (339.3 thousand tonnes). Average zinc content in the ore for the period was 2.01% with average lead content of 0.34%, compared to 2.43% and 0.66% respectively a year ago. Production of zinc in zinc concentrate for the first three months of 2008 decreased 19% to 6,161 tonnes over the prior year result of the same period of 7,609 tonnes. Lead in lead concentrate production decreased by 49.8% to 931 tonnes (vs. 1,855 tonnes in January – March of 2007).

CZP’s subsidiary, The Brock Metal Company Limited (the leading UK supplier of zinc and aluminum die-casting alloys) sold 7,388 tonnes of products January through March 2008, 16.2% less than for the same period of 2007 (8,811 tonnes).