One of the main productions of the zinc plant is the cadmium workshop, whose equipment and technology make it possible to extract foreign-metal impurities (cadmium, copper, indium) from the leaching workshop products and to remove harmful impurities from the hydrometallurgical process, while producing zinc sulfate. About how its workers worked last year, as well as the plans for the future tells the Acting Chief of the shop Yashin KARABAEV.

We have a unique and interesting production, because we are the ones who conduct the technological processes to obtain the finished product. The raw material for cadmium production is copper-cadmium cake from the leaching shop, and thanks to the equipment and developed technologies, by-products are also recovered here and harmful impurities are removed through the hydrometallurgical process, producing zinc sulfate in the process. The technological process consists of several consecutive operations and takes place in a closed cycle: after maximum copper and cadmium extraction, solutions are returned to the leaching shop for further zinc extraction. Here, in the shop, semi-finished copper cake is produced, which is shipped to the smelter for copper production; zinc sulfate, used as a reagent, is sold to third parties, and the main product - cadmium metal - is exported. All necessary analyses to determine cadmium and zinc content are performed in the chemical laboratory, which is also located on our premises.

As part of the project to stabilize the plant’s production capacity last year we installed eight new transfer pumps made by the German company Sulzer: six for pumping solutions in the electrolysis department and two for pumping sulfuric acid in the leaching department, in the cementation and OWP departments we replaced with modern, Turkish-made agitators, completed all chemical protection works on all levels of the shop, during which we completely replaced the floors, lined and waterproofed the 1st, 2nd and 3rd floors. Basically, all dismantling and installation work was carried out by employees of the energy and mechanical services, whose activities are coordinated by Komiljon Raimjonov and acting senior mechanic Ulugbek Ergashev. It is the repairmen who do all the necessary repairs to the equipment and are responsible for its smooth and trouble-free operation. The tank equipment and three agitators were overhauled as scheduled, and this year it is planned to continue working in this direction and to repair two more such tanks for copper-cadmium cake processing, as well as to overhaul the fluidized bed furnace, which area is 3.2 m². In addition, new filter presses are expected in 2022 and will be installed as they are received.

Last year, the shop staff, which today employs 90 people, worked steadily, fulfilling all production tasks. The plan of metallic cadmium output was fulfilled by 100.0%, the extraction of cadmium from raw materials was 88.6%, while the forecast was 87.0%.

Tatiana Rudenko