January 2009 Slag and cheese – a winning combination

An artisan cheese factory in Picton, a current candidate for LEED Platinum status, was the winner in the architectural merit category in the 2008 Ontario Concrete Awards. Designed by Toronto’s Lapointe Architects and constructed at a cost of US$2m by K Knudsen Construction Ltd of Belleville, the project is defined by an exposed concrete block wall that dissects the building into retail and production functions.

Above- and below-grade walls are constructed of Durisol, a stay-in-place wall forming system manufactured from post-industrial waste wood chips, and mixed with a cement slurry. The cores of the Durisol blocks were filled with Agilia concrete, which included a 50% slag cement mixture. The thermal mass of the concrete walls, combined with the added insulation value of the Durisol blocks produces a ‘durable and energy-efficient’ wall system. Sealed concrete floors, containing 50% slag concrete, were used throughout high traffic areas. Subterranean concrete cheese aging caves are also made with 50% slag in the cement.

“We were asked to design a sustainable building that was as environmentally responsible as possible, with the hopes that the facility would strictly adhere to the concepts of reduce, reuse and recycle,” said architect Francis Lapointe. “In order to achieve that goal, we quickly settled on concrete as the principal construction material.” Located on a 20-acre site on the shores of Lake Ontario, the facility was developed in close collaboration with the owner, the Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Co. If awarded LEED Platinum, the factory would be the first industrial building in Canada to achieve this designation.

January 2009 Cemex resumes cement production

Cemex’s Davenport works has resumed cement production. The kiln was stopped in September 2008 after excessive levels of chromium (VI) were detected during air pollution tests conducted between June and August 2008.
New cement will now be made without the two ingredients suspected of producing chromium (VI) when heated in the kiln – mill scale and steel slag. Cemex will replace the mill scale and steel slag with iron ore, itself a more expensive material for making cement but one that does not contain chromium. Chronic exposure to chromium (VI) compounds can cause permanent eye injury, unless properly treated. Chromium (VI) is an established human carcinogen.

January 2009 Ecocem to double capacity

GGBS cement producer Ecocem has received two pieces of good news at the end of 2008. First of all, Saint Gobain has purchased a 30% stake in the company, valued at Euro8m. In addition, ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel manufacturer, is partnering with Ecocem on its latest facility in the south of France. It is due to be completed by 2009, is valued at Euro10m, and will double Ecocem’s capacity.

Founded in 2001 by Donald O’Riain, Dublin-based company Ecocem supplies GGBS cement to concrete manufacturing companies. According to Ecocem, GGBS is regarded as ‘green’ cement, as its production creates 20 times fewer carbon dioxide emissions than traditional cement, reduces pollutants and saves electricity and natural resources.

January 2009 Tata’s Corus rescue boosts slag cement

The decision by Tata Steel to boost the fortunes of Corus’s Scunthorpe steel plant have been welcomed by Hanson UK’s Civil and Marine, which uses slag from the Corus blast furnaces to make its slag cements. Hanson UK spokesman David Weeks said: “This is fantastic news. We depend 100% on the steelworks. They heat limestone and add it to the iron ore. That produces the steel and slag that is the byproduct material that comes off that process. We take that and grind it down to a fine powder and it is used as a cement substitute in concrete.”

The fate of many businesses is linked to the Corus plant in Scunthorpe and bosses have said the longterm future of the steel works is vital for the town. Colin Deas, the managing director of Singleton Birch, said the health of Corus was an important part of his company’s business. The Barnetby-based firm supplies raw materials such as lime and chalk to the Scunthorpe works. Mr Deas said: “We are an important supplier to Corus and we are hoping to be part of its long term future. Steel manufacturing is a massive employer, not only directly but there are a lot of businesses like ours which depend on it. It is not all we do but it is a big part of our business.”

December 2008 FLSmidth receives slag grinding order from Spanish customer

FLSmidth has received a contract worth approximately Euro20m from Sociedad Anónima Tudela Veguín for the supply of an OK 33-4 vertical cement mill installation on a turnkey basis. The new cement mill is specially designed to produce both high Blaine cement and ground slag and will be the first slag grinding mill FLSmidth has installed in Europe.

The mill is to be installed at the Aboño cement plant close to Gijón in the province of Asturias in the north of Spain. Tudela Veguín has three plants and is one of the largest producers of cement in the northern part of Spain.
Compared to a traditional ball mill, the OK 33-4 vertical cement mill installation will considerably reduce CO2 emissions, according to FLSmidth CEO Jørgen Huno Rasmussen: “Our market leading vertical mill technology is playing a vital role in helping our customers to significantly reduce their carbon footprint.”

The FLSmidth equipment will reportedly play a key role in Tudela Virguín’s Euro45m project. The project is designed to increase and modernise the cement grinding capacity of the Aboño plant.

December 2008 Harsco and Shanxi Taigang join forces

Harsco Corp has announced the signing of a letter of intent to develop a working relationship with China’s largest stainless steel producer, Shanxi Taigang Stainless Steel Co, a subsidiary of China’s TISCO. This letter of intent is the initial step in exploring a new joint venture relationship that will introduce new environmental solutions for the use of the mill’s residual slag tailings in commercial applications such as cement production. Harsco expects to hold the majority stake under the proposed 25-year joint venture.

November 2008 Cemex Davenport improves its chromium (VI) credentials but is not completely in the clear yet

The amount of chromium(VI) – Cr(VI) – in the air around Davenport has fallen drastically since high levels of the cancer-causing metal were detected earlier in summer 2008, the Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control District announced after receiving results from tests conducted in October 2008. Cr(VI), measured in air samples taken between 6-14 October at Pacific Elementary School and the volunteer fire department, dropped below the state’s Environmental Protection Agency standard for environmental toxins.

“It is promising to see these numbers,” Ed Kendig of the air district said. The high levels of Cr(VI) emissions from the Davenport plant were highlighted in the October 2008 issue of Global Cement Magazine. The Cr(VI) originates in the mill scale and steel slag used to make Davenport’s cement. Both are high in chromium, an essential nutrient that can be turned into the toxic Cr(VI) when heated at high temperatures. Mill scale and steel slag will be replaced with iron ore, a more expensive raw material for making cement, Cemex Vice President Satish Sheth said.

Nine air quality tests performed by the air district between June to August 2008 detected Cr(VI) levels that were 10 times more than the state deems acceptable, posing a risk of lung cancer for 82 in 1m people. By comparison, Cr(VI) measured in more recent tests poses a cancer risk of about five in 1m at the school and 11 in 1m at the fire department, Kendig said. He said the reduction in the carcinogen can be largely attributed to limited operations at Cemex and tighter cement dust control measures put in place.

Cemex ceased operating its kiln nearly two months ago because of bad market conditions, and has kept it closed while further air tests have been under way. Company officials say there is no date set for restarting the kiln. In addition to shutting down the kiln, Cemex has taken several steps in order to reduce cement dust escaping from the plant. The company stopped all cement shipping to prevent dust from leaking out of trucks and train cars. It is unknown when shipping will begin again. Other preventative measures include increased maintenance of dust collection equipment, doubling the size of the dust control maintenance crew and using closed-circuit cameras to monitor dust.

Cemex spokeswoman Jennifer Borgen said the company is pleased that the ambient air testing data shows a dramatic decrease and that is a comfort for residents. She said the company will continue to work with the air district to reduce Cr(VI). Any plans to restart shipping will be done in consultation with the air district, she said.
Moving forward, the Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control District expects by early 2009 to adopt rigorous regulatory standards for the Davenport cement factory to ensure the potent carcinogen does not resurface in the coastal town.

At a community meeting in October 2008 Ed Kendig said that the new rules must be permanent and enforceable with heavy fines for Cemex if the toxic metal is ever detected in Davenport’s air, water or soil. The meeting, planned originally to discuss mercury testing in the area, drew a standing-room only crowd of about 100 residents – about a quarter of the 400-person town.

October 2008 A first for Civil and Marine

A year of hard work has paid off for Civil and Marine, a part of Hanson UK, which has just received a CE mark for its ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS). The mark was awarded by the European Commission, following independent testing by the British Standards Institution. It certifies the characteristics of the product and that the correct procedures are in place throughout the manufacturing process.

Civil and Marine is the only domestic producer of GGBFS from British iron production and the first supplier in the UK to gain CE marking accreditation for GGBFS. Civil and Marine’s National Technical and Environmental Manager Mike Dean said; “The award of the mark is the culmination of a year of hard work by the technical and operations team and gives us a firm foundation for the future.” Originally the material was accredited under British Standard BS6699: Ground granulated blast furnace slag for use with Portland cement, but in 2007 a new European Standard BS EN15167: Ground granulated blast furnace slag for use in concrete mortar and grout was introduced. Ultimately the two cannot co-exist and the British Standard will be withdrawn at the end of 2008.

Mike Dean revealed: “The award has taken about a year to achieve and the past three months have been particularly hectic. Our procedures and our products are inspected by the BSI on behalf of the Commission. They don’t just take our word for it. They take audit samples of the product and independently test to make sure it conforms to the requirements in the Standard.”

“The CE mark is another practical demonstration to our customers that they can rely on the quality of our material.” Civil and Marine is part of Hanson UK, itself a division of HeidelbergCement AG.

October 2008 Slagstar license for Trinayani Cement

Indian cement producer Trinayani Cement Pvt Ltd has acquired the production and market rights for the new cement ‘Slagstar’ from Austrian group Wopfinger Baustoffindustrie. The cement company will produce the special cement exclusively in India. On the occasion of the handover ceremony of the license to Trinayani Cement, Robert Schmid, CEO of Baumit Beteiligungen announced: “We are very delighted about the determination and the decision of our Indian business partners to become the technology outriders in Asia. India is the first country in Asia which will produce our new cement Slagstar by license.”

Trinayani Cement plans to build two Slagstar grinding facilities with a capacity of 1Mt each in Jajpur, Orissa and in Jamshedpur. Bipin Kumar Agarwal, director of Trinayani Cement, said: “Through the acquisition of the exclusive license for Slagstar in India, we expect a technological and ecological head start for our positioning in the Indian cement market. “In India as well the topic of CO2 savings will become stronger and stronger in the coming years; on the other hand, there is a great deal of demand especially in the area of sulphate and acid attacks and we can offer an ideal solution here with Slagstar.”

Slagstar is a development of the Wopfinger Baustoffindustrie. For its production, granulated blast furnace slag is used as a basic component and not Portland cement clinker, unlike conventional cements. Based on this composition, Slagstar production only requires one grinding facility. “We do not need the energy-intensive burning process which is necessary for the production of Portland cement clinker. Therefore it is possible for the first time to produce ecological cement. For each 1000m3 of cement, 200t of CO2 emissions can be saved. In addition to its CO2 savings, Slagstar features even more special product characteristics. Thus the new cement is especially sulphate and acid resistant and has very high final strength,” said Denes Novak, inventor of Slagstar. Slagstar has been sold on the Austrian market since 2003. “The international interest in Slagstar is great. We are negotiating licensing agreements with some of the large cement producers around the world,” says Robert Schmid. “The topic of saving CO2 with cement and the search for solutions like Slagstar is internationally already much more noticeable.”

October 2008 ACC buys 40% stake in Alcon for clinker and slag cement production

ACC has acquired a 40% stake in Goa-based Alcon Cement Company for US$464.7m. For several years ACC entered into a joint venture agreement with Alcon whereby the latter would grind its clinkers and produce its Portland slag cement. Alcon has a clinker grinding and cement packing plant in Goa.
The clinker to Alcon’s grinding unit is supplied from ACC’s Wadi plant, while slag is procured from Sesa Industries to make Portland slag cement.

October 2008 Chromium(VI) scare causes problems for Cemex

Cemex will make major changes to the way its Davenport plant operates once it reopens after the discovery that excessive levels of the carcinogenic chromium(VI) had been detected in the air this summer by the Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control District. The cement factory’s top priority is suspending the use of two key ingredients – mill scale and steel slag – commonly used for making cement. Those ingredients, which came from the Seattle area, are believed to carry high levels of chromium, which can turn into the cancer-causing chromium 6 when heated at high temperatures in the kiln.

Instead of mill scale and steel slag, Cemex will turn to iron ore, a more expensive raw material, for future cement production. According to reports, Cemex has already notified its Seattle steel slag provider that the company will not be making any new orders for the Davenport facility.

September 2008 Double whammy - Halliburton inventors develop cement compositions from fly ash and slag

Jiten Chatterji and Bobby J King, both of Duncan, D Chad Brenneis of Marlow, Roger S Cromwell of Walters, (all Oklahoma), Brent P Balcer of Magnolia, Barry L Peiser of Katy, and Don M Everett of Houston (all Texas), have developed a method for a special foamed cement from fly ash.

According to the US Patent & Trademark Office: “Methods of cementing and low density foamed cement compositions therefore are disclosed. A low density foamed cement composition of the invention comprises fly ash comprising calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide, water present in an amount sufficient to form a slurry, a foaming and foam stabilising surfactant or a mixture of surfactants present in an amount sufficient to facilitate foam and stabilise the foamed cement composition, and sufficient gas to foam the foamed cement composition.” The inventors were issued US Patent number 7,413,014 on 19 August 2008.

Not content with one patent, Craig W Roddy, Jiten Chatterji and Bobby J King, all from Duncan, and D Chad Brenneis of Marlow, (all Oklahoma), have developed a foamed settable cement kiln dust.
According to the US Patent & Trademark Office: “The present invention provides settable compositions that comprise water and cement kiln dust. The settable compositions optionally may comprise an additive that comprises at least one of the following groups: fly ash, shale, slag cement, zeolite, metakaolin, and combinations thereof. The settable compositions optionally may be foamed with a gas. Methods of cementing also are provided that comprise: providing the settable composition; introducing the settable composition into a location to be cemented; and allowing the settable composition to set therein. The location to be cemented may be above ground or in a subterranean formation.” The inventors were issued US Patent number 7,387,675 on 17 June 2008. Both patents have been assigned to Halliburton Energy Services Inc, Duncan, Oklahoma.

September 2008 Burnpur Cement acquires 60% stake in Burnpur Natural Resources

Burnpur Cement – manufacturer of portland slag cement at its plant in Asansol, West Bengal with a 1000t/d capacity – announced that the company has become the holding company of Burnpur Natural Resources by acquiring 6000 shares (equivalent to 60% of the total holding) of Burnpur Natural Resources. Further, the company said that Burnpur Natural Resources will be engaged in mining activities.

September 2008 Wanted: Cement partners to use excess slag

Steel Authority of India Ltd plans to raise its annual hot metal production to 26.2Mt by 31 March 2009, from 14.6Mt currently. Output will be raised further to 60Mt by 2020, according to the company’s annual report.
Steel Authority, India’s second-biggest producer, spent US$496m of its own cash during the year ending on 31 March 2008 to enhance capacity. The company has formed a joint venture for a 2.2Mt cement plant that will use slag from the Bokaro steel mill as raw material. Production will begin by March 2010, the report said. Steel Authority is also looking for a partner for another cement plant at its facilities in Rourkela.

September 2008 New blast furnace slag cement plant in Brazil

CSN Company - a steel, mining, infrastructure and cement business - has announced that its cement plant is in its final construction stage, and is expected to be operational by early 2009, with initial production estimated at 1Mt of high-quality cement. The raw material for cement production will be blast furnace slag from President Vargas Mill owned by CSN. Annual production capacity is expected to reach 2.3Mt by 2010.

September 2008 Xinyu Steel invests in capacity boost

Xinyu Iron & Steel Co plans to invest in a series of technology improvement measures to come online in 2009. It plans to build a batch of small sintering machines, small blast furnaces, small converters and obsolete steel rolling production lines will be eliminated.
After the completion of the project Xinyu Steel will increase its capacity to 10Mt for steel products and 2.6Mt for blast furnace slag, which will all be transported to its subsidiary construction companies for realising a capacity of 700,000t of cement, 1Mt of slag powder and 400,000t of steel slag powder.

September 2008 Waste goes green in Essar Steel plant

The saying ‘convert waste into wealth’ has been truly put into practice by Essar Steel. It has been touted as the first Indian steel company to become a zero waste and environment-friendly steel plant. “We have adopted various measures to utilise the plant waste effectively to achieve our goal of becoming a zero waste company. It is our endeavour to make this world class plant into a green plant,” said Dilip Oommen, chief executive officer of Essar Steel. Essar Steel’s plant at Hazira has an output capacity of 4.6Mt/y and generates 20-24% slag and less than 1% dust.

The company has developed technology to use slag for manufacturing cement, vitrified steel and building roads. Dust will be used to make bricks by mixing it with rice husk. Other steel firms simply dump these wastes, said Oommen. He further said that bricks made out of the mixture are 60% stronger than conventional ones, and are not baked but sun-dried.

“We have already built a road using slag, which is under testing. We intend to seeka patent for these two innovations and give it to entrepreneurs who could use it for commercial purposes,” Oomen added.
Essar Steel uses electric arc furnaces to produce the commodity in its lone domestic steel-making facility at Hazira in Gujarat. It is also setting up another 4.9Mt/y facility adjoining the existing plant.

1 September 2008 Wanted: Cement partners to use excess slag

Steel Authority of India Ltd plans to raise its annual hot metal production to 26.2Mt by 31 March from 14.6Mt currently. Output will be raised further to 60Mt by 2020, according to the company’s annual report.

Steel Authority, India’s second-biggest producer, spent US$496m of its own cash during the year ending on 31 March 2008 to enhance capacity. The company has formed a joint venture for a 2.2Mt cement plant that will use slag from the Bokaro steel mill as raw material. Production will begin by March 2010, the report said. Steel Authority is also looking for a partner for another cement plant at its facilities in Rourkela.

26 August 2008 Waste goes green in Essar Steel plant

The saying—convert waste into wealth—has been truly put into practice by Essar Steel. It has been touted as the first Indian steel company to become a zero waste and environment-friendly steel plant. “We have adopted various measures to utilise the plant waste effectively to achieve our goal of becoming a zero waste company. It is our endeavour to make this world class plant into a green plant,” said Dilip Oommen, Chief Executive Officer of Essar Steel. Essar Steel’s plant at Hazira has an output capacity of 4.6Mt/y and generates 20-24% slag and less than 1% dust.

The company has developed technology to use slag for manufacturing cement, vitrified steel and build roads. Dust will be used to make bricks by mixing it with rice husk. Other steel firms simply dump these wastes, said Oommen. He further said that bricks made out of the mixture are 60% stronger than conventional ones, and are not baked but sun-dried.

“We have already built a road using slag, which is under testing. We intend to seek a patent for these two innovations and give it to entrepreneurs who could use it for commercial purposes,” Oomen added.

Essar Steel uses electric arc furnaces to produce the commodity in its lone domestic steel-making facility at Hazira in Gujarat. It is also setting up another 4.9Mt/y facility adjoining the existing plant.

25 August Vanadium Industry, 2008 Outlook

Just released, the report provides in-depth analysis of: global vanadium mine, slag, and secondary production; demand fundamentals, with an outlook for each application; inventory estimates; and prices. Both vanadium pentoxide and ferro-vanadium prices are forecast through 2018. Added need for vanadium-bearing steels and super alloys, coupled with shifting supply dynamics, also are detailed.

Vanadium production is increasingly controlled by integrated steel conglomerates and diversified mining companies. However, several new primary mine projects are forecast to contribute to the supply picture in the coming years. These companies are developing properties in countries traditionally overlooked by the vanadium market. Meanwhile, South Africa, China, and Russia are expected to expand their vanadium production capacities over the projected period. China is slated to become the top producing country as medium-term concerns about electricity supply impact South Africa, currently the largest vanadium-producing country. The bulk of new primary and slag supplies are expected to come online after 2011, which should relieve the deficit experienced in the vanadium market since 2003.

Over the past five years, vanadium demand has increased at a robust rate. CPM Group projects this growth continuing, as the steel quality standards in emerging economies increase. The majority of demand for vanadium comes from the steel industry, where ferro-vanadium is alloyed with other elements to create multifunctional steels. Vanadium is critical in imparting strength, toughness, and wear resistance. These properties are especially important in high-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steels, which are growing in usage as the energy, transport, and construction industries seek to maximize the strength while minimizing the weight of their products. The growth potential in vanadium’s other end-use industries is present as well. Aerospace applications are rapidly expanding in tandem with the introduction of next generation commercial aircraft. In fact, vanadium-bearing titanium alloys used in aircraft have very limited substitutability.

The outlook for vanadium prices going forward is positive. They are anticipated to remain above historical averages, though should fall moderately as supply issues are rectified. A narrower deficit in the next few years will help correct prices from the record levels seen in the last three years. Prices are forecast to experience a rather steep decline in 2011 as the market transitions to a surplus, according to the detailed mine by mine breakdown in the report. Thereafter, vanadium prices could decrease steadily. Nonetheless, a high price environment is expected to be sustained.

25 August 2008 Bruker AXS to present webinar 9 September on slag analysis by XRF spectrometry

Bruker AXS announced that it will present a complimentary webinar on 9 September on slag analysis by XRF spectrometry. Slag is an important agent in high-temperature metallurgical processes. In batch processes using electric arc, ladle metallurgy and basic oxygen furnaces, for example, slag is tuned to an equilibrium condition in order to maximize metal purity, minimise attack on the refractory lining of the furnace, and optimise physical properties of the metal. Dosage of slag-enhancing additives is done based on the chemical composition of the formed slag. Slag composition also determines subsequent commercial uses.

Elemental analysis of slag by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry has long been used for production monitoring. New energy-dispersive XRF (EDXRF) systems are able to achieve analytical accuracy and precision, enabling significant cost-savings and efficiency improvements.

During this live, one-hour webinar, Bruker AXS will provide a primer for monitoring, controlling and modeling slag using XRF as the tool. Participants will learn fundamentals of EAF slag, including requirements, raw materials, composition ratios, foaming and modeling. Participants will also discover the many benefits of EDXRF for slag analysis. Real-life examples will be demonstrated with the S2 RANGER benchtop EDXRF spectrometer. The presentation will be followed by an interactive audience Q&A session. There is no charge to attend.

Slag Analysis by XRF Spectrometry
Tuesday, 9 September 2008
11.00 - 12:00pm Central US Time

To register, simply visit www.bruker-axs.com and click on Events.

24 August 2008 US$200m for Asarco cleanup

Asarco will pay US$200m to clean up toxic contamination from its operations in Washington state, including its former smelter in Ruston. The agreement is part of Asarco's effort to emerge from bankruptcy. More than half of that amount, US$122.6m, will go to the state and the federal Environmental Protection Agency for work in neighborhoods around the smelter site and in three counties.

In Pierce, King and Thurston counties, fallout from a plume of arsenic, lead and other heavy metals from the smelter settled on 1000 square miles. The remainder of the US$200m will cover cleanup at B&L Woodwaste in Milton, where slag from the smelter was dumped; at four Asarco mine sites; and at a smaller smelter site in Everett the company once operated.

The company's plan to reorganise and emerge from bankruptcy filed in a Texas bankruptcy court in late July provided additional details of Asarco's proposals to meet its environmental obligations in Washington state. A general outline of those proposals was previously known.

Overall, the century-old mining and smelting company plans to pay off its major secured creditors and provide nearly US$2.4bn to settle roughly US$9bn in environmental and asbestos-related claims. The bankruptcy is considered the largest environmental-related and one of the most complicated bankruptcies ever, involving dozens of sites nationwide. Those include 20 federal Superfund sites and 95,000 asbestos-related claims.

In Olympia, Washington state officials said they were satisfied with Asarco's reorganisation plan. "We think it is very reasonable," said Elliott Furst, a senior council on the ecology division of the Washington state Attorney General's Office.

The state initially filed US$600m in claims with the bankruptcy court, including about US$300m related to the Ruston smelter. Asarco ran the smelter for about 100 years before it was shut down in 1985. The smelter, along with its 562-foot smokestack, has been torn down. Part of the site is being developed.

Furst said the state's initial claim was a "rough estimate." Asarco Chief Executive Officer Joseph Lepinsky said: "While we still need court approval of our plan, we believe the end of this complex bankruptcy is finally in sight."

21 August 2008 Xinyu Steel invests in capacity boost

CSN Company - a steel, mining, infrastructure and cement business - has announced that its cement plant is in final construction stage, and is expected to be operational by early 2009, with initial production estimated at 1Mt of high-quality cement. The raw material for cement production will be blast furnace slag from President Vargas Mill owned by CSN. Annual production capacity is expected to reach 2.3Mt by 2010.

20 August 2008 Xinyu Steel invests in capacity boost

Xinyu Iron & Steel Co plans to invest in a series of technology improvement measures to come online in 2009. It plans to build a batch of small sintering machines, small blast furnaces, small converters and obsolete steel rolling production lines will be eliminated.

After the completion of the project Xinyu Steel will increase its capacity up to 8Mt to 10Mt for steel product and 2.6Mt for blast furnace slag, which will all be transported to its subsidiary construction companies for realising capacity of 700,000t of cement, 1Mt of slag powder and 400,000t of steel slagpowder.

11 August 2008 Clarkdale slag project update

Searchlight Minerals announced that the town of Clarkdale, Arizona issued a Certificate of Occupancy for the main production building that is anticipated to house the majority of the Company's initial 100-250t/d commercial production module for the extraction of precious and base metals from a 20Mt slag pile in Clarkdale, Arizona. The slag pile is located approximately six miles from the historic United
Verde Copper Mine in Jerome, Arizona, which produced some of the richest copper ore ever mined in the U.S.

Clarkdale housed a smelter operation for the United Verde Mine, and when smelting activities ceased in 1947, a metal-bearing slag was left at the Clarkdale site. Independent engineers, operating under chain-of-custody procedures, have estimated that the slag pile is comprised of approximately 20.2Mt of material that contains approximately 0.50 ounces of gold per ton, along with silver, copper, zinc and
a ferro silicate byproduct.

9 August 2008 Chinese smelting plant a stepping stone to regional projects

Industrial engineering company Bateman Engineering's first major project in China involves the design and construction of a high-grade titanium dioxide slag smelting plant. The project is being completed together with the Chinese engineering company Kunming Design Institute (KDI), for metallurgical company Chinese Yunnan Metallurgical Group (CYMG). The company reports that the project is well under way and will serve as an important reference for the Bateman Group, as a whole, to gain further projects in the region.

The KDI, established in 1953, is a large, comprehensive Grade A institute that combines investigation, design, studies, mapping, geotechnical construction, geologic disaster prevention, counselling and research.

With the KDI responsible for most of the detailed engineering of the plant, Bateman Engineering's responsibility involves process design and basic engineering for the entire plant, detailed engineering for the smelter area, design and programming of the plant control system, supervision of erection and commissioning as well as assistance with procurement of imported equipment.

The plant uses dc arc furnace technology to produce titanium dioxide (TiO2) slag from ilmenite mined in the region. Some critical equipment related to the dc furnace and slag milling is being imported from Europe and South Africa, but the majority of other equipment is supplied by Chinese suppliers.

Installation of the mechanical equipment started in July, and commissioning of the plant is planned to start late in 2008. The plant will produce 85 000t a year of TiO2 slag, a substance which is mainly used as a feedstock in the pigment industry. The slag will be produced from a feed of ilmenite using dc arc furnace smelting technology in a 30-MW furnace. The furnace will be designed with an off-gas scrubber and the cleaned furnace gas will be used as combustion fuel for use within the plant, increasing overall energy efficiency.

9 August 2008 Burnpur Cement acquires 60% stake in Burnpur Natural Resources

Burnpur Cement – a manufacturer of portland slag cement at its plant in Asansol, West Bengal with a 1000t/d capacity – announced that the company has become the holding company of Burnpur Natural Resources by acquiring 6000 shares (equvlent to 60% of the total holding) of Burnpur Natural Resources. Further, the company said that Burnpur Natural Resources will be engaged in mining activities.

8 August 2008 Vizag Port sets granulated slag loading record

A record 10,116t of ground granulated blast furnace slag, with a gang shift output of 843t, was loaded on to the vessel MV Gretke Oldendorff at EQ-5 at Vizag Port on 31 July 2008. This surpasses the previous best loading of 8396t, with a gang shift output of 763t achieved on 14 June 2008, on to the vessel MV Eastern Star.

The cargo was exported by Toshali Cements Pvt Ltd Visakhapatnam. Srivalli Shipping and Transport was the stevedore and Navship Marine Services Pvt Ltd the steamer agent for the vessel on behalf of Holcium Trading FZCO of Dubai.

5 August 2008 At least 20 killed in Myanmar jade mine landslide

At least 20 people were killed when aslag heap from a jade mine in military-ruled Myanmar collapsed late last month after torrential rain. "A number of people panning for gold in the earth were buried alive," a person involved in the jade industry in Yangon told Reuters, saying they had heard about the 30 July incident through traders in the northern state of Kachin, where it happened. Official media in the former Burma have made no mention of the tragedy, which the source said occurred at the Hmawzizar Jade Mine in Phakant, a major jade mining area about 1500 km (930 miles) north of Yangon.

"At least 20 bodies had been found as of 3 August 2008," said the source, who did not want to be named. Although one of Asia's poorest countries, Myanmar is a major gemstone producer and such incidents are not uncommon. At least 16 people were killed in a landslide caused by torrential rains in Mogok, the centre of Myanmar's ruby mining, in June.

Locals frequently blame the mining companies, especially those owned by cronies of the ruling military junta, saying they operate mines in Dickensian conditions with scant regard for the safety or welfare of the workers. Myanmar, an international pariah after 46 years of unbroken military rule, produced more than 20m kilograms of jade in 2007, contributing to nearly US$650m of foreign exchange from sales of precious and semi-precious stones.

1 August 2008 Blast furnace slag for Brazilian cement plant

Brazilian steel, mining, infrastructure and cement firm CSN has announced that its cement plant is in final construction stage, and is expected to be operational by early 2009, with initial production estimated at 1Mt of high-quality cement. Raw material for cement production will be blast furnace slag from President Vargas Mill owned by CSN. Annual production capacity is expected to reach 2.3Mt by 2010.

30 July 2008 Welsh council allows 6Mt slag heap to stay because it is 'of historical interest'

As the body entrusted with protecting Welsh heritage, their work usually involves safeguarding some of the country's oldest and finest churches, buildings and bridges. So residents living in the shadow of a 6Mt coal tip were left flabbergasted today when Cadw refused to back plans to tear down the eyesore because they have deemed it a site of important historical interest. As a consequence, councillors refused to push through the proposals, recommended by their own planning officers, and, to the dismay of locals, agreed to allow the huge mound of waste to stay.

29 July 2008 Searchlight Minerals gets approval for occupancy

The company that is planning to extract minerals from the massive slag along the Verde River in Clarkdale, Searchlight Minerals, has announced that it has been given the go-ahead to occupy its newly reconditioned laboratory building at the old United Copper Company smelter site. The 26,000-square-foot building is one of three structures at the former smelter that will be refurbished to suit a new industrial use.

Originally, the company hoped to extract 4m ounces of gold from the slag along with other minerals. But, subsequent independent tests have shown the black glassy waste material may be even richer. A recent press release cites the 20.Mt of slag 'contain approximately 0.50 ounces of gold per ton, along with silver, copper, zinc and a ferro silicate byproduct" (expected to be sold as a component for cement manufacture). That estimate means the slag could contain as much as 10m ounces of gold.

"We view receipt of the Certificate of Occupancy for the laboratory as the achievement of an important milestone in our journey to complete the construction, installation, testing and start-up of our initial production module," stated Ian McNeil, Chief Executive Office of Searchlight.

"In the coming weeks, we will install state-of the art analytical equipment in the laboratory that will allow our chemists to conduct immediate, on-site analyses of leaching results to further optimise the metals extraction process." The building will house equipment for the initial production module, a 100 to 250t/d operation that will prove the company's technique. Eventually, Searchlight proposes to build a 2000t/d module. The company will renovate two other buildings, a main processing building and a separate building for the 'electrowinning' equipment.

21 July 2008 Norilsk Nickel selects Tenova Pyromet for upgrading nickel slag furnaces

Tenova Pyromet announced that it has been selected by Norilsk Nickel for the upgrade of two of their nickel slag cleaning furnaces located on the Far North behind the 69th parallel in northern Siberia. Tenova Pyromet recently finalised the contract to supply Project Documentation for two Nickel slag cleaning furnaces, including Gas Cleaning Plant documentation for each furnace and set of equipment within the limits of the Project.

Abreast of developments and Tenova Pyromet’s furnace design know how will be utilized in the Project. The diameter and power input of the furnaces will be increased to allow processing of approximately 2400t of flash furnace and converter slag per day per furnace. The purpose of the furnaces is to recover nickel, cobalt and copper from the flash furnace and converter slag streams. The furnace power rating will be increased to 30 MVA with a maximum power input of 25MW achievable depending on process requirements and conditions. Tenova Pyromet will supply the furnace proper, including the hearth cooling system, the steel shell and refractory lining, its MAXICOOL® sidewall copper cooling system, the furnace refractory roof with support structure and its patented Söderberg electrode column.

In addition it will supply the gas cleaning plant, the secondary electrical supply system, the furnace control system, lining management system and PLC, as well as key components of the furnace feed system. Supervision during installation and commissioning is also included for in the contract. Tenova Pyromet is providing projected performance for each furnace and equipment guarantees.

The first furnace is expected to come on line during the last quarter of 2010 and the second furnace during the third quarter of 2011. With projects coming in from across the globe, Tenova Pyromet is taking advantage of its expertise and reputation for projects completed on schedule or early, meeting and exceeding emission control requirements and, above all, the supply of reliable and efficient technology and equipment.

Tenova Pyromet has extensive experience in the design and construction of smelting plants and furnaces, both in South Africa and internationally. It designs and supplies advanced technologies, products and services for the metal and mining industries.

19 July 2008 Alternative slag road material saves major money

Rick Hall found himself in a rare position for an Illinois township highway commissioners. He had more money for roads this year than last. In 2007, Custer Township voters approved a property tax hike for road construction and improvement that more than doubled annual revenues to about US$103,000.

Still, Hall faced sharp increases in road material - 75% between 2000 and 2007, according to a study by the Illinois Association of County Engineers - which could have erased much of that new money. But Hall worked it out through a number of smart financing decisions.

Probably the biggest cost saver was when Hall switched from limestone for the road base to a steel slag material made at Nucor Steel Kankakee Inc's plant in Bourbonnais. Slag, the by-product of processing metal, is harder and heavier than limestone, and a lot cheaper. "Limestone is US$10/t for a 3 inch stone," he said. "Nucor's 2-4 inch slag stone is US$1.25/t." However, the price has since increased to US$2/t.

Hall also used slag for the next layer of smaller stone, but put limestone road mix on top because the limestone made a better, tighter surface when oil-and-chipped, he said. Overall, using slag aggregate saved the taxpayers US$235,000 - enough to pay for more than an additional mile, Hall said. "The thing that makes me feel good is that with the work we have done, I won't have to put out as much for maintenance and now I can do more work on the other roads," he said.

Steel slag aggregate has been used for construction since 1915 and is approved for use all over the country. Nucor Kankakee specializes in resmelting slag from other steel mills to extract more metal and produce the aggregate product - about 80,000t/y, "and we're selling every pound we make," said Rich Russell, Tube City IMS salesman for the Nucor operation.

"Last year our company moved 3.5Mt of steel slag into construction aggregate" from 69 locations here and around the world, he said. Although Hall used limestone for his finished surfaces, Tube City sells a "chip-and-seal" product for the same purpose. That material - called fines, "is likely to be made in the Kankakee plant next year," Russell said. "There is a tremendous market because communities cannot afford asphalt because of the cost of oil. We will have to put up another plant there and will be hiring additional people...an operator and probably two or three other people."

Because it is very hard and skid resistant, its use is required in expressway and street surfaces in Chicago and elsewhere, Russell said. Locally, "we have a lot of customers," he said. "Farmers use it for their roads and parking areas. There's a big bus lot on US Route 45-52 south of town that has used 60,000t alone on its parking areas."

And in Custer Township, it will mean of its 27 miles of roads, now about half will be hard roads, Hall said. And the township will build 7.4 miles of hard road on it's most heavily traveled roads -- Bauer, Gray, Ohlhues and Smiley.

15 July 2008 Slag goes green

A dramatic and important stage in the 'greening' of a former Welsh steelworks site is underway. High pressure hydro-cannons are being used to blast grass seed onto soil that is being manufactured on site and then spread over the valley slopes.

It follows a successful project to ‘make soil’ or a growing medium on site by mixing either basic steel slag or colliery spoil with green compost, organic fertiliser to provide the essential nutrients and crushed sandstone which helps bind the soil and retain moisture. When completed some 125,000t of soil will have been created using 15,000t of compost to cover 11 hectares of land.

The Works is the first place in Wales to take part in a trail-blazer project promoted by WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) to use high-quality compost to regenerate brownfield land. It provides a significantly cheaper and sustainable alternative to importing topsoil to the site with much of the compost coming from recycled green waste from households in Blaenau Gwent, Wales.

Leighton Andrews, Deputy Minister for Regeneration said: “The Works is set to play a key role in the regeneration of Ebbw Vale.”

13 July 2008 Copper slag 'contamination'

Khanh Hoa police suspended operations at two companies that often recycled metal scraps and used engine lubricant from Vietnamese firm Hyundai VinashinPolice said Veteran 394 Joint Stock Company had built two environmentally destructive scrap recycling workshops without complying with the designs the firm had submitted to obtain permits. Police said Tan Huy Company had opened a steel processing and production line before receiving its environmental certificate.

In November2007, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai instructed Hyundai Vinashin that it would have three years to clean up its copper slag waste, which experts say has polluted the neighbouring environment. Hai said the shipyard company must finish properly disposing of or recycling over 700,000t of harmful waste by 2010. The order also instructed the company to ensure that no excessive copper slag be produced as a byproduct of the company’s operations.

10 July 2008 Japanese firm made concrete using 'illegal' slag additive

A concrete production company in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, incorporated a material unauthorised by Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS) to ready-mixed concrete used at more than 300 construction projects, according to an investigation by the Construction and Transport Ministry. Construction projects at three condominiums in Yokohama and at a factory's office in Fujisawa have been suspended after flaws were found in the concrete, such as the finished material's surface crumbling away.

On 8 July 2008, The General Building Research Corporation of Japan - a certification authority - stripped the firm, Mutsuai Concrete, of the right to affix the JIS seal of approval to its products. According to the ministry, the material Mutsuai mixed in the concrete was slag, which was made by melting ash from an incinerator and then cooling it down. The company made ready-mixed concrete containing the slag from July 2007 until June 2008.

The company covered up the wrong doing by using normal concrete in tests conducted prior to the construction projects in the presence of officials from the construction company about to use the concrete. The concrete was used at more than 300 construction sites in Kanagawa Prefecture. The ministry instructed local governments to investigate whether buildings in which the concrete was used have problems.

If slag is incorporated into concrete, occasionally the inside of the concrete swells, causing two to three millimeters of the surface to crumble away. Based on the JIS, the Building Standards Law stipulates that concrete used for beams and pillars should use stipulated materials including gravel and cement. Using concrete containing slag for pillars is a violation of the law. According to the Kanagawa prefectural government, Mutsuai's concrete was used during reconstruction work at a tunnel in Kamakura, including large amounts for the main part of the structure. The prefectural government plans to conduct a test to confirm the tunnel's strength and durability.

9 July 2008 Stedman introduces the new V-slam

Stedman has launched its new V-Slam™, patent pending, Model VS-88 Vertical Shaft Impactor. According to an offical press release, the new V-slam features, "innovative housing and rotor designs, easy access low profile split swing lid, higher operating speed for finer grinding and capacities up to 500t/h. An optimal hydraulic drive system offers numerous advantages, including variable mill speeds."

"The V-Slam has a size reduction ratio up to 15:1 with speeds up to 12,500ft/min and a capacity range from 5 to 500t/h. Typical industrial applications include minerals and ores, slag, bottom boiler ash, flux, alloys, glass, chemicals, magnesite, corn, salt, coke, rendering of poultry, pet food and other animal feed supplements and bakery waste. The V-Slam is also equipped with an indexing feed tube and anvil ring and an automatic recirculating lubrication system. Distributor plates, shoes and other impeller components are easy to replace."

8 July 2008 Cork Council unaware of licences to remove slag from Haulbowline

Cork County Council in Ireland says it is not aware of any licences being issued to allow for the removal of waste material from the former Irish Ispat steel plant in Haulbowline for use in road construction. A council spokesman said the council had taken control of the site for the Department of the Environment in 2005 and had not issued any licences for the removal of slag or any other waste material for use in road construction.

"There has been no such licence issued since 2005 when the council took over the site and we're checking our records prior to that to see if any licences were issued for the removal and use of waste material in road-building, but we're not aware of any such licence." Cork County Council was responding to Cork South Central Labour TD Ciarán Lynch, who said it was his belief that the removal of such material for use in road construction took place between 1998 and 2002 and would have required a licence from the local authority. He said there was concern about such material being used in road construction and the impact it could have on groundwater if toxic materials were leached down into groundwater courses.

Mr Lynch was speaking after calling on Minister for the Environment John Gormley to clarify whether tens of thousands of tonnes of potentially toxic material was removed from the site and used in road construction. "I would also like to know whether that material was examined for toxicity and whether it was treated," Mr Lynch added. "Minister Gormley should also identify the company that removed the materials and provide an indication as to where it may have ended up."

A Department of Environment spokesman told The Irish Times that the department took control of the site in 2003. It had no records regarding the removal of material since and it did not hold any records for the site before 2003.

5 July 2008 Slag dump fills with sea water in stormy high tide

Gale-force winds and a high tide caused large pools of water to form last night in the middle of the toxic slag heap in Haulbowline in Cork harbour, Ireland. Hundreds of fearful local residents watched in amazement as the centre of the toxic rubbish tip began to fill with rain and sea water, apparently blown in by a combination of strong southerly winds and a rising tide. The slag heap has been flattened in recent days by extensive soil analysis being carried out to discover how hazardous the waste material is. “I have never seen anything like it in my life,” said the mayor of Cobh, John Mulhivill Jr.

“Everyone in the area is very concerned at what is happening. My phone hasn’t stopped ringing all night and there is a real sense of fear in the town. I don’t want to be alarmist, but we cannot be in dread every time we have a high tide. Something must be done now.”

A spokesperson for the Environmental Protection Agency said last night that they were involved only in an advisory capacity in relation to the site and that the Department of the Environment was the “lead agency”. The department could not be contacted.

Labour Party’s local government spokesman Ciarán Lynch said that it was imperative that Environment Minister John Gormley recognised he had a duty of care to Cobh residents and did everything possible to allay their fears.

3 July 2008 Slag waste water treatment paper published

A new paper focusing on the treatment of contaminated drainage water in New Zealand has been published in the Journal of Environmental Quality. The abstract of the paper is as follows: Tile drained land with phosphorus (P)-rich topsoil is prone to P loss, which can impair surface water quality via eutrophication. We used by-products from steel and energy industries to mitigate P loss from tile drains. For each by-product, P sorption maximum (Pmax) and strength (k) were determined, while a fluvarium trial assessed P uptake with flow rate. Although two ash materials (fly ash and bottom ash) had high Pmax and k values, heavy metal concentrations negated their use in the field. The fluvarium experiment determined that P uptake with by-products was best at low flow, but decreased at higher flow in proportion to k. A mixture of melter slag (<10 mm) and basic slag (high Pmax, 7250 mg kg–1; and k, 0.508 L mg P–1) was installed as backfill in eight drains on a dairy farm. Four drains with greywacke as backfill were constructed for controls. The site (10 ha) had P-rich topsoil (Olsen P of 64 mg kg–1) and yielded a mean dissolved reactive P (DRP) and total P (TP) concentration from greywacke backfilled drains of 0.33 and 1.20 mg L–1, respectively. In contrast, slag backfilled drains had DRP and TP concentrations of 0.09 and 0.36 mg L–1, respectively. Loads of DRP and TP in greywacke drains (0.45 and 1.92, respectively) were significantly greater (P < 0.05) than those from slag drains (0.18 and 0.85, respectively). Data from a farm where melter slag was used as a backfill suggested that slag would have a life expectancy of about 25 yr. Thus, backfilling tile drains with melter slag and a small proportion of basic slag is recommended as an effective means of decreasing P loss from high P soils.

The authors of the paper are: R W McDowell (Invermay Agricultural Centre, Nw Zealand), A N Sharpley (Department of Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences, Univ. of Arkansas, US) and William Bourke (SteelServ, New Zealand). The full paper citation is J. Environ. Quality, 2008, 37, p1575-1582.

26 June 2008 Siemens to supply new steel mill at Posco Gwangyang Works, Korea

Siemens VAI Metals Technologies received an order from the Korean steel producer Posco for the installation of a new green-field steel mill at its production site in Gwangyang, Korea. The project scope includes engineering and the supply of key components, systems and technological packages for an LD (BOF) converter, RH degassing plant and slab caster. The project will be implemented in consortium with Posco E&C (Posco Engineering & Construction Co., Ltd.) and Poscon – an affiliated company of the automation division of Posco. The first slab is scheduled to be cast on the new caster in May 2010, which will be rolled to plates in a new plate mill also under construction.

With a crude-steel output exceeding 30 million tons in 2007, Posco is one of the largest steel producers in the world. At its production sites in Korea and elsewhere in Asia the company produces a wide range of carbon, stainless and electrical-steel grades which are sold as coils, sheets, plates and wire rod that are used for a multitude of industrial applications. In response to the growing demand for plates, Posco made the decision to install new steelmaking and plate-rolling facilities at its steel works in Gwangyang. A total of 3.2 million tons of slabs, comprising low-, medium- and high-carbon steel grades as well as alloyed steel grades, will be rolled to high-quality plates for use in shipbuilding, boiler and pressure vessels and pipe production.

Siemens Metals Technologies will provide engineering and key equipment for a 250-ton LD (BOF) converter and offgas system, an RH degassing plant and a 2-strand slab caster with a nominal casting capacity of 3.2 million tons of slabs per year. The converter supply includes the maintenance-free VAI-Con Link suspension system, converter-tilting unit with drive, an oxygen valve stand for the LD lances and slag stoppers for minimized slag carry-over during tapping. The dry-type converter-offgas-treatment system will be designed to cool and dedust up to 200,000 m3 of offgas per hour in accordance with the strict Korean environmental standards. It includes an evaporation cooler, a Siemens four-field, round-type ESP (electrostatic precipitator), ID (induced draught) fan, a gas-switchover station for directing the treated converter offgas either to the flare or to intermediate storage in a gasholder for subsequent heating applications or for the generation of electricity). A feature of the offgas-treatment plant is the installation of a plate-type cooling system which ensures a high cooling efficiency during peak converter-offgas emissions.

The 250-ton RH (Ruhrstahl-Heraeus) degassing plant will reduce the hydrogen and nitrogen gas content of the liquid steel to acceptable values as required for the production of high-quality plates. The 2-strand slab caster with a casting-bow radius of 9.5 meters will be capable of casting slabs with thicknesses of 250 and 300 millimeters and in widths ranging from 1,400–2,400 millimeters. The caster will be equipped with a wide array of technological packages. This includes DynaFlex for the online flexible adjustment of the mold-oscillation parameters, SmartMold with its cassette-type mold design that allows the copper plates to be quickly exchanged and LevCon 2 for improved automatic mold-level-control. Dynamic mold-width adjustment will be possible with DynaWidth. Furthermore, a SmartBender will be installed as the first segment in the strand-support system to enable fast slab-thickness changes to be carried out. Advanced caster segments of the type SmartSegment will enable the online and fully automatic adjustment of the slab thicknesses. DynaGap SoftReduction technology will allow the strand taper in the area of final solidification to be dynamically adjusted for improved internal strand quality. The Level 2 Dynacs secondary-cooling system featuring dynamic strand-cooling management ensures ideal cooling conditions according to the respective steel grade. With the employed 3D-Spray system the spray width is automatically adjusted according to the slab width, providing optimum slab cooling.

A key reason for the receipt of this contract by Siemens was the successful cooperation with Posco in previous projects of this type. Since the year 2000, Siemens Metals Technologies has supplied a total of nine slab casters comprising a total of 17 strands to Posco's Pohang and Gwangyang steel works.

25 June 2008 Call to repair 'big dipper' major road as steel slag deteriorates

One of Rotherham's busiest roads should be given a major facelift because it is creating a bad impression with visitors, according to a top councillor. Centenary Way - the main link between the M1 and the town centre - has started crumbling and has been dubbed the "big dipper" as steel slag used in its construction deteriorates. But Rotherham Council has been refused a government grant towards rebuilding the road which could cost millions. It says it intends to patch up the road because it can't afford to resurface it.

Tory group leader John Gilding says the crumbling road is at odds with plans to revitalise the town. He said: "We have all these big sums being invested in the town but this road - the main road into the town centre from the M1 - does not create a good impression. I understand there are problems with the capital side of things but I think a new surface should be put down as a temporary measure until the money comes through."

Three years ago the council received a one-off UK£2m grant from the UK Government to re-build Great Eastern Way at Parkgate which was suffering similar problems.

24 June 2008 Sagar Cements declares dividend

Sagar Cements has declared dividend of 25% including the interim dividend of 15% (already paid), on the equity shares for the year 2007-08. Sagar Cements specializes in the production and distribution of portland cement. It also offers slag, super grade and special sulphate resistance. SCL`s cement is marketed under the brand name Priya Cement.

18 June 2008 Searchlight Minerals Corp provides update on Clarkdale Slag Project

Searchlight Minerals announced that on 17 June 2008, the City of Clarkdale, Arizona issued a Certificate of Occupancy for the laboratory facilities located within the building that is anticipated to house the Company's initial 100 to 250 ton-per-day (tpd) commercial production module for the extraction of precious and base metals from a 20 million-ton slag pile located in Clarkdale, Arizona. The slag pile is approximately six miles from the historic United Verde Copper Mine in Jerome, Arizona, which produced some of the richest copper ore ever mined in the U.S. Clarkdale housed a smelter operation for the United Verde Mine, and when smelting activities ceased in 1947, a metal-bearing slag was left at the Clarkdale site. Independent engineers, operating under chain-of-custody procedures, have estimated that the slag pile is comprised of approximately 20.2 million tons of material that contains approximately 0.50 ounces of gold per ton, along with silver, copper, zinc and a ferro silicate byproduct.

"We view receipt of the Certificate of Occupancy for the laboratory as the achievement of an important milestone in our journey to complete the construction, installation, testing and start-up of our initial production module in Clarkdale," stated Ian McNeil, Chief Executive Officer of Searchlight Minerals Corp. "In coming weeks, we will install state-of-the-art analytical equipment in the laboratory that will allow our chemists to conduct immediate, on-site analyses of leaching results to further optimize the metals extraction process."

During the first half of 2008, the Company has been involved primarily in the renovation of an existing 26,000 sq. ft. building at the Clarkdale site. The building will house most of the components of the initial full-scale production module, including crushing, grinding, leaching, filtering and Ion Exchange (IX ) circuits. Concurrent with the building's renovation, the Company has been taking delivery of major equipment items, such as impact mills, a vibratory mill, leaching tanks, filter presses, ion exchange systems and lab equipment. A majority of the critical equipment is on site and currently being installed in the building. Remaining items are slated for delivery within the next few weeks.

"The renovation process has been enormously complex," observed McNeil. "We have overcome some very challenging engineering issues in order to integrate full-scale production equipment into the existing building. In the process, the Company has significantly upgraded service utilities and installed an operating well that will provide water service to the first module. A new electrical room and transformer were added, and underground power lines are now coupled to the transformer. The building should transition from temporary generators to the Arizona Public Service power grid later this week."

15 June 2008 Environmental problems found at Vedanta mines

Environmental problems involving Vedanta Resources and its subsidiaries include India's hazardous-waste monitoring committee finding a "mountain" of arsenic-bearing slag improperly stored at Vedanta's copper smelter in Tamil Nadu. The committee also found that the plant was emitting sulphur dioxide far in excess of permissible standards and that Vedanta ad embarked on a three-fold expansion of the smelter without permits.

13 June 2008 Sayreville steel mill working to cut down on dust and noise in neighbourhood

Gerdau Ameristeel, New Jersey, is in the midst of multimillion dollar renovations to reduce emissions of noise and dust particles coming from its mill on North Crossman Road. The work at the steel recycling mill is in response to complaints by nearby residents. To cut down on dust and noise, the company plans to enclose two operations, the melt shop and slag cooling area, according to a company-issued press release. The enclosure for the melt shop is being built farther from the homes and will help eliminate some of the sound, company spokesperson Steve Ross said. The enclosure should be built by the end of next summer. The company also has placed tarps over most of the slag pile and is watering down the rest to keep the dust down, Ross said.

"We want all these improvements to be implemented as quickly as possible," Vice President-General Manager Mark Quring said in the release. Pat Walsh, chairman of the Sayreville Environmental Commission and neighborhood resident, said, "A lot of people in the neighborhood feel that where the problem is coming from is the slag." The pile has built up while Ameristeel's slag contractor searched for a buyer, Walsh said. "A buyer has been found," Ross said. "The pile of slag that is there now has been sold and will be shipped off the site."

The company also will upgrade the system which removes and filters the melt shop's exhaust fumes, install a wheel washing system and expand its watering system to further suppress dust. "We think it's worth it to be a better neighbor," Ross said.

A resident of the neighborhood for about nine years, Walsh began noticing increasing levels of dust about three years ago. After he and other residents brought complaints to the attention of the company, last year, Ameristeel began working to improve operations. "Right away the steel company started working with us," Walsh said.

For the past year, Ameristeel has been working with township officials, the environmental commission and has received input from a community hotline and a community advisory panel to pinpoint the causes of problems in the neighborhood. "In response, the company has been investing a great deal of money in improving those conditions," Ross said.

Walsh said the company has been making strides, though not as quickly as residents would like. Borough officials are seeking a time frame from the company for when improvements will be completed, Walsh said. "We're just hoping they will pick up the pace, help the neighbors. That's why I think the deadlines are important," Walsh said. One of the primary concerns for residents was the possibility of health risks from emissions, Walsh said.

A report released by the company in February 2008, indicated that particle emissions did not exceed the health limits set by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. Township officials are making plans to review to reports to get a second opinion on the results, Walsh said.

12 June 2008 Chicago's 'Eco Bridge' to be built with slag

Picture this on Chicago's downtown lakefront: A two mile-long land bridge arcing into Lake Michigan and outfitted with wind turbines and a soaring central observation tower. The "Eco-Bridge," Chicago architects Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill call it. They've been quietly shopping the idea over the past year to civic, business and political leaders, including Mayor Richard M. Daley. Let's set aside for now the inconvenient hurdle that the land bridge would cost US$1bn and no funding source has been identified.

The bridge, a 21st Century update of a comparable breakwater scheme in Daniel Burnham's celebrated 1909 Plan of Chicago, would form a grand civic space and a harbor, stretching from the Adler Planetarium on the south to East Wacker Drive on the north. You could walk on it, jog on it, maybe even bike on it. The bridge's observation tower would provide a place to gaze back at the skyline and a display platform for the Olympic flame should Chicago be selected as the host city for the 2016 Summer Olympics. It would be built on slag, a byproduct of steel-making, and the slag would be permeable, Smith said, allowing fish to use it as a habitat.

30 May 2008 Special slag concrete mix developed for I-5

The Cemex cement plant in the Sutter Country village of Pleasant Grove, has won the bid to provide concrete for the repair of the I-5 freeway project in Sacramento. Ten trucks an hour are expected to back into the plant and be filled with concrete. "From the time we push the button to start the conveyor belts moving, it will take us three minutes to fill each truck," said Operations Manager Andy Galli. "We are providing close to 17,000 cubic yards of material to this project."

While other concrete plants are dirty and dusty, Galli pointed out the Cemex plant is clean and green. "Usually there's stuff everywhere," explained Galli. "But our facility here is very environmentally friendly because we have the plant enclosed. We have dust collection systems to control the dust when we're manufacturing the concrete."

Some of the concrete concoction going to the 'boat section' of the I-5 fix has never been used before. When Quality Control Manager Jim Van Nest heard about the deal in mid-February, he said, "I called our sales manager and said you gotta be crazy we're bidding this. But I was told you've got to take care of it."

"We're going to use concrete made with slag, a byproduct of making steel. That's been done before," said Van Nest. But this project was different. "Instead of slag concrete that will cure and harden in 28 days, we were asked to get that strength in 24 hours. So it took us hundreds of hours in research and development to figure out how to do that."

Six weeks ago word came that Cemex workers had developed a recipe that included hardening agents, more slag and less cement. And test columns showed the stuff was super tough. Van Nest explained, "One square inch of concrete can hold a a car that weighs 3600 pounds.

Cemex workers said they'll feel proud watching their concrete road recipe make history. "We'll save taxpayers money because we'll be able to help fix the road in a much shorter amount of time," said Van Nest. "And cars will be able to get back on the road so people can get where they're going. That's a good thing."

27 May 2008 Davenport boosts price target

Davenport raises its price target on Walter Industries Inc. from US$85 to US$105, maintaining their Buy rating. The firm is also raising 2009-2010 estimates to reflect higher assumed prices on currently unpriced coal tons. Walter Industries, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides a line of products and services, including coal and natural gas, furnace and foundry coke, slag fiber, mortgage financing, and home construction worldwide.

The firm said commentary at their recent coal conference reinforced their view of more prolonged supply tightness in the met coal market, and higher prices in the short-term steam coal market than they previously assumed. Walter Industries currently trades at $89.

27 May 2008 New facet to slag recycling

Recycling of materials for re-use is a fast-growing industry. Now a new facet has been added to the business – the recycling of slag. The latest move comes from National Scrap Metals at Kuilsrivier, Cape Town, South Africa. National Scrap Metals currently holds two international ratings, the ISO 14001 and the ISO 9001, and is working towards an ISO 18000 that may be awarded by the end of the year.

Major shareholders in National Scrap Metals are Murray and Roberts and the New Reclamation Group.

Adri Vosloo, general manager of National Scrap Metals says the company recently purchased sophisticated equipment from Pilot Crushtec – a Finlay 663 Supertrak, which is a mobile track-mounted diesel-driven screening plant, and a Modular MJ1252 skid-mounted electric granulator jaw crusher, manufactured by Pilot Crushtec. He says the facility is seen to be a ‘pilot’ operation that is expected to develop nationwide as investigations into possible uses of crushed slag continue.

The Kuilsrivier plant is currently processing 3500t/m of slag from the Murray and Roberts-owned Cape Town Iron and Steel, while additional material from a stockpile is also being fed into the system. Crushed slag is currently going to the construction industry, to be used as filler and for road manufacture, as well as to manufacturers of specialised bricks. Interest in the product is growing, and sales are increasing, he says.

“We see tremendous growth in the future for the recycling industry. The recycling of slag at Kuilsrivier has provided us with an ideal opportunity to operate what we see as a pilot project at one of the smaller slag producers, but investigations into further uses of crushed slag are ongoing. There are larger steel producers in the country and we may extend our operations nationwide, which will help protect the environment and our resources for the future,” he says.

Vosloo says National Scrap Metals purchased modular crushing and screening equipment from Pilot Crushtec in 2003 as a trial with the purpose of extracting metal from an existing waste dump while crushing slag. The decision to upgrade was taken recently when growth in demand for crushed slag started to develop. Currently the new jaw crusher is being used to enhance the production of the modular plant that, together with the Finlay 663 Supertrak is delivering 0 to 16mm and 16 to 50mm products . He says production is flexible and different sizes material can be provided to meet customer needs.

21 May 2008 Hangzhou Bay Bridge and Sutong Bridge open to traffic

Hangzhou Bay Bridge and Sutong Bridge in China have been officially opened to traffic. These two bridges are milestones in Chinese bridge construction history. Baosteel has performed an important role in this project, not only supplying all the steel for the cables of the Sutong Bridge, but it also supplied ta green slag powder for Hangzhou Bay Bridge.

Baosteel and Chinese scientific research colleges collaborated together to develop a high performance admixture of special slag powder and marine concrete in order to cast the piers of Hangzhou Bay Bridge. This application has improved the density of the concrete, resulting in low penetration, fewer defects and advanced corrosion resisting capability compared to normal concrete.

20 May 2008 Modern-day alchemy: turning trash into power

It's not turning lead into gold, but General Electric Co is working on a form of modern alchemy, converting garbage into electricity. GE, which aims to make US$25bn in annual sales from green businesses by 2010, is working to adapt its gasification technology, used to burn coal more cleanly, to turn municipal waste into a relatively clean-burning gas. The process takes solid material and heats it to temperatures up to 1400degC (2552degF) - far hotter than an incinerator - which causes most matter to shift into a gaseous state. That gas is then converted into a synthetic fuel called syngas, largely free of pollutants, that can be burned in an electricity-producing turbine.

The materials that do not convert to gas, including some metals and minerals, shift to a liquid state and when they cool turn into slag, a stable rocklike substance. Slag's stability means its contents do not leach out into their surroundings, so it could be safely used in construction material. The challenge is how to take a process that works with a uniform input - coal - and make it run smoothly with the hodgepodge of materials that make their way into a garbage truck. "We're really trying to understand the variability that is in municipal solid waste," said Kelly Fletcher, advanced technology leader in sustainable energy at GE's research center in Niskayuna, New York. "Not to be cute about it, but garbage in, garbage out," Fletcher said in a phone interview. "We have to really understand what it is that our gasification system is going to get, in terms of the feedstock."

Environmental groups have long opposed incinerating waste - which releases polluting gases into the atmosphere and creates ash that can be hazardous -- but some are open to the idea of gasifying municipal solid waste. "We are open to technologies that would deal with MSW in a way that doesn't have the downsides of incineration and created a useful product," said Dave Hamilton, director of global warming and energy at the Sierra Club, in Washington. "We're interested in looking at it."

Many companies around the world, including Waste Management Inc, the largest US trash hauler, already produce energy from garbage by capturing the methane gas emitted by decomposing trash in landfills and burning it. The gasification approach cuts out the landfill - a key concern in crowded urban areas - and prevents the trash from decomposing and producing methane, which has more than 20 times the heat-trapping potential of carbon dioxide. "If you can intercept it from turning into methane, then doing something else with it is probably a better route," said Scott Sklar, president of The Stella Group, a Washington-based green energy consulting and design firm.

Energy experts said there are no garbage-to-energy gasification plans currently operating in the United States, although privately held Plasco Energy Group late last year opened a site in the Canadian capital of Ottawa, which is capable of processing 100t of municipal trash a day.

Cities in Florida, California, Louisiana and Michigan are contemplating or planning waste gasification facilities. Fletcher estimated that GE is about five to ten years away from making garbage gasification a paying business.

19 May 2008 The rain is to blame

Wet weather over the weekend in South Australia may delay maintenance work at Port Pirie's smelter. The smelter's operator Nyrstar has shut down the slag fuming plant and plans to reopen it early next month. Matt Howell from the company says while he still hopes the 21 day target is achievable, the safety of up to 170 maintenance contractors is Nyrstar's main concern.

"Its raining and that's great for the farmers but it's not so good for us because it introduces a bunch of other risks that we have to take care of," he said. It becomes slippery, there's a lot of electrical equipment out there, so look this is just part and parcel of running a shutdown, but it's very, very extensive in the coordination and the planning to keep 170 people occupied and working safely together."

19 May 2008 Mount Isa homes 'contaminated'

MORE than 900 homes in Mount Isa, Australia, may have been built on land contaminated by mining slag from the central Queensland town's mine.Preliminary soil testing, conducted by Macquarie University scientists, has found that pockets of the suburb of Soldiers Hill - where children have recently shown dangerously high blood-lead levels - have recorded lead contamination five times the legal limit. The tests, which will be finalised this week, have opened up a new avenue for legal action against the mine's owner Xstrata, as well as the Queensland Government and city council. A test case was filed last month in Brisbane's Supreme Court over lead poisoning of a six-year-old girl in Mount Isa.

Queensland Health will this Thursday hold a public forum to release the final report of a blood-screening programme. A preliminary report found that 11% of the 400 children tested had blood-lead levels above the safe limit set by the World Health Organisation. One of the children tested was Sharnelle Seeto's two-year-old daughter, Bethany Sanders, who will figure in legal action to come.

Ordered in late 2006 after The Australian revealed evidence of metal contamination of soils and water, the study shows at least 45 children have lead-blood levels that could damage intellectual and behavioural development. The Queensland Government this year moved to repeal exemptions to environmental standards granted to the Mount Isa hardrock mine and smelters by the Bjelke-Petersen government. But the report into the blood screening by the Queensland Government - which is a respondent in the test case - is unlikely to lay blame exclusively with Xstrata, the mine's Swiss owner.

Queensland Health's John Piispanen said the report was not concerned with the "blame concept". "The evidence we have found is to guide future long-term serious action in Mount Isa on lead - that was our scope," he said. "Lead comes from a wide variety of sources and there is some obvious stuff whether it is historical mining activity, current mining activity or from highly-mineralised soils." But solicitor Damian Scattini, of law firm Slater & Gordon, feared there would be the same sort of inaction that followed a 1992 blood-screening program that also found high lead levels among more than a third of the town's children.

Mr Scattini said the mine, the state government and city council had done little since evidence of widespread contamination was first confirmed in 1990. At that time, a church, childcare centre and kindergarten were closed and 50 houses moved because of heavy-metal contamination. Documents obtained by The Australian show that the government suspected in 1990 that large tracts of suburbs were built on contaminated land. Mr Scattini said he planned to launch legal action on behalf of residents whose homes are likely to have been built on the top of land fill provided by the mine. Other sources of the contamination are believed to have come from dust that blew off the mines's slag heaps and from the discharge of tailings into the region's rivers. "If the tests confirm what we expect them to show - that the land is contaminated with lead and other heavy metals - we will be suing the responsible parties," Mr Scattini said. Xstrata Copper North Queensland chief operating officer Steve de Kruijff last month said the company took the issue of "lead management" seriously and was working closely with the community and authorities.

8 May 2008 Ohio Permit Approved; Steel Plant Coming to Scioto County?

Ohio’s Environmental Protection Agency has granted approval of air and waste water permits necessary for construction of a US$1bn steel plant between Franklin Furnace and Haverhill. New Steel’s 750-acre plant would eventually create nearly 1000 jobs.

One of the concerns during the permit process was reducing the amount of airborne mercury estimated to be released. New Steel responded by adding a “lignite injection system specifically designed to control mercury emissions,” the release said. “The final air permit contains a significantly lower mercury emission limit at less than 100lb/y. Ohio EPA believes this to be the most stringent air pollution technology for mercury to be used at an American steel mill and may set a new industry standard for cleaner air.”

In addition to enhanced mercury controls the facility updated the design of other control equipment which will significantly reduce the emissions of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrofluoric acid, hydrogen chloride and sulphuric acid. All sources at the plant will use state-of-the-art controls for controlling air pollutants to meet emission limits. “I appreciate New Steel’s willingness to work with dedicated Ohio EPA staff in development of cutting edge permits,” said Chris Korleski, Ohio EPA director.

The final wastewater discharge permit has also been granted. New Steel must also receive a 401 water quality certification and a 404 permit from the Army Corps of Engineers. Decisions on those applications have not yet been made.

As a requirement of New Steel's wastewater permit-to-install, the company will be lining the slag quenching area and the slag plant water supply lagoon with two layers of compacted clay to minimise the risk of ground water contamination. The clay layers will total 5ft thickness and will be tested to ensure that permeability requirements are met. Installing a liner system for these areas goes beyond what is typically required in a wastewater permit-to-install.

New Steel International appears to be the US branch of MMK Steel, a Russian company that has been in discussion with the Ohio Department of Development concerning a possible steel mill. Ohio had been in competition with a Quebec site. According to the application filed in October 2007, MMK plans an iron-making plant, steel-making melt shop, continuous casting, hot rolling mill, cold rolling mills and process lines.

6 May 2008 Old slag helps make a building greener

Ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS), a cement replacement used in ready-mixed and precast concrete, has helped enhance the sustainable credentials of a redeveloped Victorian building in central London. Architects, Architype, wanted to ensure the refurbishment of 56 Southwark Bridge Road, owned by Southwark Borough Council, combined cutting edge design with the use of low carbon materials.

GGBS, which is a by-product of the iron making industry, was specified because it can reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with the manufacture of concrete by 40% or more. In addition, it does not require the quarrying of new materials and makes use of a product that would otherwise be disposed of as landfill. It was imperative for Architype that materials used in the project reflected its sustainable approach to embodied energy, greenhouse gases and raw material extraction.

Adrian Ashby, from Civil and Marine, the UK’s largest producers of GGBS, worked closely with James Todd from Architype to ensure that site constraints did not dilute this approach. A standard GGBS percentage of 50% was agreed for use across the project – although Architype’s original specifications stated a 72% mix. “We had to balance our vision with the needs of the contractors and suppliers,” said James. “Ideally we would have liked a bigger mix, but it is inevitable that compromises are made on projects like this. Civil and Marine understood the need to be flexible and continued to offer advice and support throughout construction.”

Concrete containing GGBS was used in the space between the atrium and staircases, achieving a light-coloured concrete with a consistent fine textured finish. Using 300m3 of GGBS in the mixes saved 46t of carbon dioxide and 112,350KWh of energy and also prevented 79t of raw material extraction. Other environmentally friendly specifications on the build included solar panels, a wind turbine, low energy lighting and an energy monitoring system.

Graham Sutton, regeneration manager for the London Borough of Southwark said: “The building is going to be a media centre for broadcasting, cultural and art projects and will bring excellent training opportunities for local residents.”

5 May 2008 Price target raise for slag fibre firm

Brean Murray has raise the price target on Walter Industries from US$107 to US$150. The firm believes that if Walter can meet its FY09 projected production volumes, the company will report EPS of US$15.00, versus the Wall Street consensus of US$9.34. Brean Murray calls Walter 'particularly attractive for deep value investors' given that it is currently trading at 4.9-times its forward EPS estimate. Walter Industries, Inc. provides a line of products and services, including coal and natural gas, furnace and foundry coke, slag fibre, mortgage financing, and home construction worldwide.

30 April 2008 Man severely injured in Mittal Steel's Sparrows Point plant

A combination of molten slag and water at Mittal Steel’s Sparrows Point plant on Monday 28 april 2008 caused an explosion that was felt throughout the community. One worker was seriously burned in the blast at the plant at 12:15am after he dumped 3000degC steel waste by-product into a pit of water, according to a news release from the Baltimore County Fire Department. The young man, who was not identified in the release, was operating a front-end loader in the coal chemical area of the plant when he dumped the slag. That caused an explosion that sent the molten slag and steam shooting high into the air, according to the release.

Firefighters from the Sparrows Point station responded to a two-alarm warehouse fire caused by the explosion and found that plant employees had moved the injured man to the company's infirmary. The man then was rushed to the burn unit at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. At the burn center, the release said, the man was listed as a 'Priority 1', meaning he suffered critical and possibly life-threatening injuries. No more information about his condition was available at press time Tuesday 29 April 2008.

At the plant, firefighters found that flying debris from the explosion had caused the nearby warehouse to catch fire, the release said. The molten debris had melted the roof of the warehouse and ignited combustibles inside, the release said. Firefighters had the blaze under control by 1:30am, according to the release. The fire and explosion were ruled accidental by fire investigators and caused about US$130,000 worth of damage to the property, the release said.

15 April 2008 Slag rivets 'to blame' for the sinking of the Titanic

Metallurgists studying the hulk of the Titanic argue that the liner went down fast after hitting an iceberg because the ship's builder used substandard rivets that contained too much slag. These rivets popped their heads and let tons of icy seawater rush in. They say that better rivets would have probably kept the Titanic afloat long enough for rescuers to have arrived, saving hundreds of lives.

The team collected clues from 48 Titanic rivets and found many riddled with high concentrations of slag, a glassy residue of smelting that can make iron brittle. To test whether this extra slag weakened the rivets, scientists commissioned a blacksmith to make rivets to the same specifications as those used to join steel plates in the hull of the Titanic. When the plates were bent in the laboratory, the rivet heads popped off at loads of about 4000kg. With the right slag content they should have held up to about 9000kg. Even a few failures because of flawed metal would have been sufficient to unzip entire seams, because as faulty rivets popped, more stress would have been placed on the good ones, causing them to break in turn. The shipbuilder, which is still in existence, denies it all.

15 April 2008 Eramet acquires Tinfos of Norway in Euro593m deal

Eramet said it will acquire metal alloys producer Tinfos AS of Norway in a cash and shares deal worth about Euro593m. It has agreed to buy a 93% stake from the family that controls the company and will make an offer on the same terms to the holders of the remaining 7% of shares. Tinfos had sales of Euro931m in 2007 and employs more than 500 people, Eramet said. Its activities include production of silico-manganese at its Kvinesdal plant, which has capacity of approximately 180,000t per year and a workforce of around 200.

Tinfos makes titanium dioxide slag and high purity pig iron at its Tyssedal plant, with a workforce of about 190. Titanium dioxide slag is used primarily in the production of white titanium dioxide pigments for paints, paper and plastics. The company also carries out international trading of metallurgical products, notably for the steel and foundry industries, and is involved in power generation through various hydropower and thermal power plants in Norway.

The acquisition is expected to enhance Eramet's EPS by more than 4% in 2009, the French mining company said. Tinfos's operations are highly complementary to Eramet's current business in Norway, where Eramet operates two manganese alloy plants at Porsgrunn and Sauda, it noted.

Based on Eramet's share price in the month to 11 April 2008, the deal gives Tinfos an enterprise value of Euro593m, equivalent to 7.8 times Tinfos's 2007 EBITDA.Following completion, Tinfos's major shareholders will together holdabout 2.4% of Eramet's shares.

8 April 2008 Charah receives US Patent for coal-slag processing

Charah Inc, which finds uses for ash from the coal-fired electric utility industry, has received a United States patent for its method of processing coal slag. The processing system, designed for power plants that use Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) technology, separates unburned carbon from the slag material and makes it available for reuse, according to a news release from Louisville, Kentucky-based Charah.

IGCC plants produce power in a more environmentally friendly manner by treating coal to remove its sulphur content prior to burning. There are about 26 IGCC plants in operation or under construction around the world, the release said.

8 April 2008 Waste-to-slag using plasma art technology

A new technology called plasma arc gasification (PAG) could help the US solve its landfill problem. There are approximately 2000 landfill sites in the US, and the country generates about 230Mt of solid waste a year. Thanks to recycling and other efforts, only around half of this will end up in landfills, but a considerable amount will still need to be dumped. But thanks to PAG the reliance on landfills should diminish.

Plasma arcs can heat garbage to 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The byproduct is a rock-like substance called slag. The slag can be sold and used in constructing roads and highways. Using this slag would lessen the environmental impact of mining for construction materials. A portion of the gas and steam produced by this process can be used to run turbines and generate electricity in power plants, with the excess electricity being sold off to power companies.

Georgia Tech scientist Louis Cicero has suggested a nationwide system of plasma facilities can produce the equivalent electricity of 25 nuclear power plants. This does not have to be done with government monies. An Atlanta, Georgia company, Geoplasma, is building such a plant in Florida. A past objection to incinerators was possible air pollution. However, better technology has addressed this concern. Similar plasma-arc gasification processes are already operating in Japan, meeting tougher emissions standards than in the US.

3rd April 2008 Zlatoust’s EAF shop No 3 celebrates 40th anniversary

ESTAR Group’s JSC Zlatoust Metallurgical Plant’s electric furnace melting shop No 3 is celebrating its 40th anniversary. The shop was commissioned in 1968 when its assets consisted of four electric slag re-melting furnaces, four induction furnaces and vacuum arc furnaces. In late-1968 vacuum arc furnace with two casting moulds was commissioned. The production of 26 steel grades was developed in the shop with electric slag re-melting furnaces in just the first year of operation. Currently the shop produces over 100 different steel grades.

The steel shop is now equipped with induction furnaces, electric slag re-melting furnaces, vacuum arc furnaces and a two-strand half continuous billets casting machine for the production of round section electrodes. It also produces up to 2500t of products per month including stainless, construction, tool steel grades, high speed steel tools and alloys.

In 2005 an electric slag re-melting furnace 5VG was launched in the shop for production of hollow ingots billets for pipe industry allowing a complete exclusion of the first refining. Currently ZMP has developed production of hollow ingots with the length of up to 3.5mm and wall thickness ranging between 90-115 mm.

28th March 2008 Roads buckle due to defective materials

Barnsley Council in the UK has been left with a potential UK£6.2m bill after builders used defective materials to build access roads to housing estates. Steel slag was used the create the foundations for the roads, but that has since expanded due to contact with rain and the road surfaces have buckled and cracked. Councillor Philip Burkinshaw compared driving along one of the worst streets to riding a rollercoaster. He said: "Going down Water Royd Drive in Dodworth is more exciting than going on the Big One in Blackpool."

Residents of the street, which is the central road through the Harvest Meadows estate in Dodworth, have been complaining about the road surface for more than five years. The cost of digging up and disposing of the steel slag, which has to be specially disposed of because it is contaminated, in all the affected streets in the borough would be UK£6.2m. Highways engineers have determined that the cost of fixing the roads can be reduced by coating the slag and re-using it, but that would still cost UK£2.3m.

Cabinet environment spokesman Coun Roy Miller said there are up to 38 roads in the borough which need fixing and that they will be seen to on a worst-first basis. After Water Royd Drove, the worst are in Mapplewell, Wilthorpe, Tankersley, Cubley and Cawthorne. Councillor Miller said the work could take years. He said: "We are aware of the problems this has been causing for a lot of our residents. But we will be working to resolve the issue as quickly as we can with the resources available."

27th March 2008 Tube City receives 35 Safety Awards From National Slag Association

Tube City IMS, LLC, a provider of products and services to steel mills and foundries throughout the US, Canada, Europe, Mexico, South America and Asia, has announced that several of the Company's sites received a total of 35 Safety and Industry Best Practices awards from the National Slag Association (NSA) for 2007. The NSA Safety awards recognise superior performance as measured against Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recordable injury rates. The awards were recently presented to the Company during the NSA's annual spring meeting in Las Vegas.

Overall, Tube City IMS received 50% of the awards recognizing "Job Sites with at Least 200,000 Hours since the Last Recordable Accident" and 60% of the awards presented for "Lowest Incident Rate, 11-50 Employees."

Raymond Kalouche, President and COO, IMS Division, Tube City said: "The Company is honoured to receive these prestigious awards. They stand as testimony of our teammates' active participation in safety and innovation throughout our organisation," said . "We will continue to look for new ways to improve safety programs. I am extremely proud of all our colleagues for their dedication and commitment to safety."

 

Download PRo Calandar 2010 (pdf, 160kb) 2nd Global Landfill Mining Conference, 13 September 2010, London Global Mining Finance Conference, 22-23 September, London 5th Global Insulation Conference, 4-5 October 2010, London 6th European Slag Conference, EUROSLAG, 20-22 October 2010, Madrid 10th Global Gypsum Conference and Exhibition, 25-26 October 2010, Paris, France 6th Global Slag Conference, 22-23 November 2010, Sydney, Australia 12th Discussions of the Round Table (Loesche USA Symposium), 1-4 December 2010, Miami, USA AUCBM 16th Arab International Cement Conference & Exhibition, 6-8 December 2010, Ras Al Khaimah, UAE Future Cements Conference and Exhibition, 8-9 February 2011, London, UK 2nd Global Cement and Concrete Conference and Exhibition, 15-16 March 2011 (to be confirmed), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 5th Global Alternative Fuels Conference for Cement and Lime, 12-13 April 2011, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2nd Global Cement Wear and Maintenance Conference, 9-10 May 2011 (to be confirmed), location tbc 53rd IEEE-IAS/PCA Cement Industry Technical Conference, 22-26 May 2011, St. Louis, MO, US Global Cement Electrical Energy Efficiency Conference, 13-14 June 2011, London 13th International Congress on the Chemistry of Cement, 3-8 July 2011, Madrid, Spain Global Boards Conference and Exhibition, autumn 2011, London UNITECR 2011, 30 October-2 November 2011, Kyoto

Australasian Slag Association (Australia)

Cementitious Slag-maker's Society (UK)

Civil and Marine Slag Cement (UK)

Ecotrade (shipping/trader)

European Slag Association (Euroslag)

JFE Mineral Company Ltd (Japan)

Lafarge Slag (US)

Loesche (slag grinding) (Germany)

Multi-Metco (Ca-Al slag)

National Slag Association (US)

Nippon Slag Association (Japan)

Quarry Products Association (UK)

Research Association for Iron and Steel Slags (FEhS) (Germany)

Slag Cement Association (US)

Slagment (South Africa)

Skako Comessa (slag handling)

USGS pages on slag

Blast furnace slag use in cement (Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Centre)

Steel slag usage (Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Centre)

Categories

Conference reviews

3rd Global Slag Conference 2007 Review (GS Magazine, January 2008, downloads as eGS_Jan08_GS07.pdf, 4.16MB)

5th European Slag ('Euroslag') Conference 2007 Review (GS Magazine, October 2007, downloads as eGS_Oct07_Euroslag07.pdf, 973KB)

1st National Iranian EAF Slag Conference 2007 Review (GS Magazine, March 2008, downloads as eGS_Mar08_Isfahan.pdf, 1.43MB)

Country profiles

Thailand - Siam Cement faces price resistance with the trial launch of slag cement (GS Magazine, January 2008, downloads as eGS_Jan08_Siam.pdf, 2.65MB)

Turkish slag cement industry seeks new markets (GS Magazine, November 2007, downloads as eGS_Nov07_Turkey.pdf, 1.35MB)

Slag cement

Adding value to granulated slag in European cement markets - experiences in Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands (GS Magazine, November 2007, downloads as eGS_Nov07_Ecocem.pdf, 438KB)

The production of high performance low carbon cement (GS Magazine, January 2008, downloads as eGS_Jan08_Cenin.pdf, 4.16MB)

Evaluation of the technical and economical aspects of using type CEM III cements in concrete (GS Magazine, March 2008, downloads as eGS_Mar08_Adana.pdf, 292KB)

Treatment and characterisation of EAF slag for its effective utilisation in cementitious products (GS Magazine, October 2007, downloads as eGS_Oct07_EAFslagcement.pdf, 623KB)

Various types of cooling methods of EAF steel slag to be used as cement replacement material (GS Magazine, October 2007, downloads as eGS_Oct07_EAF.pdf, 599KB)

Slag chemistry

Borate stabilisation of air-cooled slags (GS Magazine, March 2008, downloads as eGS_Mar08_Borate.pdf, 1.49MB)

Slag conveying and grinding options

Efficient and reliable handling of GBFS and GGBFS at grinding plants and cement works (GS Magazine, March 2008, downloads as eGS_Mar08_Aumund.pdf, 2.18MB)

MPS vertical roller mills for slag and slag cements (GS Magazine, November 2007, downloads as eGS_Nov07_GebrPfeiffer.pdf, 597KB)

Miscellaneous applications of slag

EAF slag for road construction in Thailand (GS Magazine, October 2007, downloads as eGS_Oct07_ThaiRoads.pdf, 632KB)

The potential performance of steel industry aggregates for the removal of heavy metals from degraded water (GS Magazine, November 2007, downloads as eGS_Nov07_Water.pdf, 759KB)

Quality control of slag products according to different standards (GS Magazine, January 2008, downloads as eGS_Jan08_Finland.pdf, 3.53MB)

Measurement and analysis systems

Steel-making slag measurement with LIBS (GS Magazine, November 2007, downloads as eGS_Nov07_LIBS.pdf, 835KB)