Mitsui Mining & Smelting Regards Metal Recycle as Core for Next Mid Term

Mitsui Mining & Smelting sets the environment responsive and recycling businesses as the core of its next mid-term management plan starting in April 2009. The metal recycling business is now positioned as the substantial business of its zinc and lead smelters. Along the next mid-term plan, the firm will shift the recycling business to the main business of the smelters. The firm will also advance development of environment responsive products for electronic materials and automotive part materials.

Mitsui Mining & Smelting is the top zinc producer in Japan, whose ingot production is approximately 240,000 tonnes per year. The firm procures zinc ore from Huanzala and Pallca mines of Peru at 20% in its total ore consumption, and from other mines at 50%. The firm’s utilization rate of recycling materials reaches 30%, the world highest level, such for crude zinc oxide collected from steel dust.

Miike Smelting, the group company in Fukuoka, Japan, collects crude zinc oxide and supplies the material to Hachinohe Smelting, another group company in Aomori, Japan. Mitsui Mining & Smelting plans to raise the utilization rate of recycling zinc materials to 50% by doubling the crude zinc oxide output at Miike Smelting.

As to other metal recycling, Mitsui Mining & Smelting collects lead, precious metals and rare metals from used batteries and used circuit boards at its domestic smelters, Kamioka Mining & Smelting in Gifu, Takehara Refinery in Hiroshima, and Mitsui Kushikino Mining in Kagoshima. The parent company aims to change the metal recycling business, the substantial business of the group smelters now, to their main business during the next mid term.

Mitsui Mining & Smelting also targets development of new environment responsive products such as halogen-free resin coated copper foil, 12-micrometer-thin copper foil which can reduce etching liquid consumption, secondary battery materials and exhaust purifying catalyst.