INDIA'S LEAD AND ZINC RESERVES
India has 176.8 million
tonnes recoverable reserves of lead and zinc ore as on April 2000.
It accounts for 2.38 million tonnes of lead metal and 9.70 million
tonnes of zinc metal. The life index of the recoverable ore is
nearly 40 years. An area of 8221 hectares are held under mining
lease for lead and zinc. Production of primary zinc metal was
estimated at around 205,195 tonnes, and primary lead metal at
around 37,860 tonnes in 2001-2002 as compared to 178,015 tonnes
of primary zinc metal and 34,840 tonnes of primary lead production
respectively in 2000-2001.
The present smelting
capacity for primary zinc metal and primary lead metal in the
country are 1,99,000 tonnes and 43,000 tonnes per annum respectively.
Installed smelting capacity of Hindustran Zinc Limited (HZL) is
1,69,000 tonnes of zinc and 43,000 tonnes of lead. Binain Industries
Limited (BIL) has an installed smelting capacity of 30,000 tonnes
of zinc.
Besides primary
production of metal through these units, both zinc and lead are
also produced through secondary routes from scrap, dross, residue
etc. Most of the secondary producing units, especially in lead
are in the unorganized sector. Secondary zinc production during
2001-02 is estimated at about 28,000 tonnes and secondary lead
production at about 29,000 tonnes.
The demand for
zinc and lead has grown at an annual rate of approximately 6 per
cent and 6.5 per cent respectively during Ninth Five Year Plan.
With the projected high growth of Steel Industry ( and demand
for galvanization with zinc) and automobile industry (with automotive
batteries with lead as major input) the demand for lead and zinc
in India is expected to grow rapidly during the Tenth Five Year
Plan period.
India is a member
of International Lead and Zinc Study Group (ILZSG). The total
production of lead in the world was 5.4 million tonnes for the
period January to October 2002,of which the share of India was
0.059 million tonnes. The largest producer of lead from lead mines
is China followed by the United States, Peru, Canada and Sweden.
The largest consumer of lead is United States followed by China,
Germany, United Kingdom and Italy. The refined lead consumption
in the period January-October 2002 was 5.2 million tonnes of which
India consumed 0.11 million tonnes.
Total production
of zinc in the world was 7.85 million tonnes for the period January-October
2002 of which the shares of India was 0.21 million tonnes. The
largest producer of zinc is China followed by the United States,
Peru, Canada, Kazakhstan and Ireland. The largest consumers of
zinc are United States and China followed by Japan, Germany and
Republic of Korea. The refined zinc consumption in the period
January-October 2002 was 7.5 million tonnes of which India consumed
0.25 million tonnes.
