Nippon Mining & Metals to Build Metal Recycle Plants in Hitachi

Nippon Mining & Metals announced on Wednesday the firm and its subsidiary, Nikko Environmental Services, cooperatively establishes metal recycling plants in Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan with investment of approximately 10 billion yen. The new plants will be located within the site of Nippon Mining & Metals’ Hitachi works along the layout renewal plan for Hitachi area and “Hitachi Metal Recycle Complex Plan (HMC Plan)” to promote metal recycling business inside the group.Nippon Mining & Metals plans to separate Hitachi works’ site into 3 areas and to integrate metal recycling, electrolytic copper smelting and other high technology businesses into each area. Metal recycling plants and facilities will be integrated mainly into Daiyuin area along HMC Plan.Metal recycling plants will be constructed by three phases. At the first phase antimony, bismuth, tin and nickel recycling system will be completed toward July 2008, at the second phase zinc and indium recycling system toward December 2008 and at the third phase copper and precious metals recycling system toward the end of 2008.Along HMC Plan, Nippon Mining & Metals plans to produce gold at 500 kilogram per annum (KPA), silver at 50 tonnes per annum (TPA), platinum at 200 KPA, indium at 6 TPA, antimony at 150 TPA, bismuth at 200 TPA, nickel at 500 TPA, copper at 6,000 TPA, zinc at 700 TPA and tin at 500 TPA.