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Dundee Precious Metals Inaugurates New Sulphuric Acid Plant in Namibia

Dundee Precious Metals invests USD273 million for setting up sulphuric acid production facility in Tsumeb, Namibia

Namibia: Dundee Precious Metals Tsumeb (Pty) Limited, a subsidiary of Canada based mining company, that is, Dundee Precious Metals, has inaugurated its new sulphuric acid production facility in Tsumeb. The new sulphuric acid production facility has been constructed with an investment of approximately USD273 million and its expected production capacity is around 0.27 to 0.34 million tons per year. The new plant is well equipped with modern technologies and is able to eliminate about 95 percent of noxious emissions pumped into the environment by the smelter as it will capture the sulphur dioxide emissions, released from mineral smelter and would convert it into sulphuric acid.  

TechSci Research depicts that the set-up of new sulphuric acid production facility is a part of strategic expansion plan for the copper smelter company. The new production facility is expected to improve the sulphuric acid production capacity in Namibia. Additionally, the sulphuric acid produced from this new plant would cater to the growing demand for sulphur across the entire African continent, thereby reducing the sulphuric acid dependency of African nations on imports.

According to the upcoming report by TechSci Research, “Global Sulphuric Acid Market, By Manufacturing Process (Lead Chamber and Contact Process), By Raw Material (Sulphur, Exhaust Gases, Pyrite), By End-Use Industry (Fertilizers, Chemical etc.), By Region, Competition Market Forecast & Opportunities, 2011-2025”, global sulphuric acid consumption was more than 230 million tons in 2015, which is growing at a healthy pace. Growing demand for captive sulphuric acid in fertilizer and industrial sector is expected to boost the sulphur-based production of sulphuric acid. However, manufacturers are gravitating towards production of sulphuric acid through base metals smelting in order to manufacture merchant acid. A significant growth in the sulphuric acid market is attributed to rising investments for the establishment of new sulphur burners and sulphuric acid plants together with capacity additions across the globe.

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