JX Nippon Mining & Metals to Ramp Up Metal Recycling Complex

JX Nippon Mining & Metals targets full capacity operation of Hitachi Metal-Recycling Complex (HMC) in Ibaraki by March 2011. The firm launched the first phase in 2008 and started the third phase in April 2009. The plant is to recover 16 metals from waste electronics substrate and waste from smelting. The operation rate reached 70-80% level recently. The firm tries to secure materials for the electronic materials business through the recycling.

The first phase is to make tin, nickel, antimony and bismuth. The second phase is to make zinc and indium and the third phase is to make copper, gold, silver and platinum group metals. The recycling is to recover metals from waste from smelting, waste substrate and precious metal scrap.

The plant supplies 20-30% of the recovered metals for electronic materials business in the group while the balance is sold to third parties. JX Nippon Mining & Metals tries to increase the group supply to stabilize the raw materials procurement for the group companies.

HMC also makes tellurium as byproduct of copper smelting under commissioning production from the group company of Pan Pacific Copper while HMC makes selenium at Saganoseki smelter and refinery. JX Nippon Mining & Metals also conducts recycling test for lithium ion battery at Nikko Tsuruga Recycle to recover nickel carbonate, cobalt and lithium. The group can recover 21 metals through the various operations.