24th Apr 2008 11:30
Vedanta Resources PLC24 April 2008 24 April 2008 Vedanta Resources' subsidiary Hindustan Zinc to become World's Largest Integrated Zinc-Lead Producer - Expanding capacity at HZL to 1,065,000 tpa, making it the largest integrated zinc-lead producer in the world and achieving stated capacity goal of 1 million tonnes per annum - Silver production expected to increase to 500 tonnes per year - Strong reserves and resources position of 232.3 million tonnes containing a total of 27.5 million tonnes of zinc-lead metal Vedanta Resources plc's ("Vedanta") subsidiary, Hindustan Zinc Limited ("HZL")has announced expansion projects that will take its total integrated zinc-leadcapacity to 1,065,000 tonnes per annum with fully integrated mining and captivepower generation capacities, thereby making it the world's largest integratedzinc-lead producer by 2010. HZL will continue to maintain its superior costleadership position among the zinc producers in the world. Two brownfieldsmelter projects, which will increase the production capacities of zinc and leadby 210,000 kt and 100,000 kt respectively, will be undertaken at Rajpura Daribain Rajasthan, India. HZL expects to increase its silver production from the current levels ofapproximately 100-120 tonnes per year to a level of approximately 500 tonnes peryear in the form of silver and silver bearing residue. A large part of thisincrease would be from the Sindesar Khurd mine where silver occurrences areapproximately at levels of 200 ppm and from the use of appropriate technology inthe new smelters. The expansion is supported by HZL's strong reserves and resources of232.3 million tonnes containing 27.5 million tonnes of zinc-lead metal at31 March 2008. The reserves and resources position have been earlierindependently reviewed and certified as per the JORC standard. To support the increased smelting capacities, HZL will expand its ore productioncapacity at the Rampura Agucha mine from 5 mtpa to 6 mtpa. Further, oreproduction at the Sindesar Khurd mine, the new star in HZL's mining portfolio,will be increased from 0.3 mtpa to 1.5 mtpa. HZL will also start mining activityat the Kayar mine which will have a production capacity of 0.3 mtpa. In line with the group's philosophy of being a fully self reliant producer ofpower, a captive thermal power plant with a capacity of 160MW will also be setup at Rajpura Dariba. The zinc and lead smelters as well as the 160MW captive power plant and theRampura Agucha mine expansion will be complete by mid-2010. The expansions atthe Sindesar Khurd and Kayar mines will be completed in phases by early 2012. The total investment in these projects is estimated at $ 900 million. Thisinvestment includes the cost of the smelters, captive power facilities, minedevelopment and shaft sinking and other infrastructure. The expansion willutilise the same technology and project management skills that successfullydelivered the Chanderiya II expansion project ahead of schedule. For further information, please contact: Sumanth Cidambi [email protected] Director - Investor Relations Tel: +44 20 7659 4732 / 91 22 6646 1531Vedanta Resources plc James Murgatroyd Tel: +44 20 7251 3801Robin WalkerFinsbury About Vedanta Vedanta is a London listed FTSE 100 diversified metals and mining major. Thegroup produces aluminium, copper, zinc, lead and iron ore and also commercialenergy. Vedanta has operations in India, Zambia and Australia and a strongorganic growth pipeline of projects. With an empowered talent pool of 30,000employees globally, Vedanta places strong emphasis on partnering with all itsstakeholders based on the core values of entrepreneurship, excellence, trust,inclusiveness and growth. For more information visit www.vedantaresources.com Disclaimer This press release contains "forward-looking statements" - that is, statementsrelated to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statementsoften address our expected future business and financial performance, and oftencontain words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes,""seeks," "should" or "will." Forward-looking statements by their nature addressmatters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. For us, uncertainties arisefrom the behaviour of financial and metals markets including the London MetalExchange, fluctuations in interest and or exchange rates and metal prices; fromfuture integration of acquired businesses; and from numerous other matters ofnational, regional and global scale, including those of a political, economic,business, competitive or regulatory nature. These uncertainties may cause ouractual future results to be materially different that those expressed in ourforward-looking statements. We do not undertake to update our forward-lookingstatements. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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