Britannia Refined Metals

In 1986 Britannia Refined Metals (Northfleet, U.K.) introduced technology for the treatment of Parkes cmst, a triple alloy of Ag, Zn, Pb, which by 1992 had been adopted by seven lead refineries (22). The technology consists of a three-stage process in which the silver-rich cmst is first Hquated to reduce its lead content, then placed in a sealed furnace where the 2inc is removed by vacuum distillation and, finally, the silver—lead metal is treated in a bottom blown oxygen cupel (BBOC) to produce a Htharge slag and dorn metal. 

Britannia A process for removing silver from lead, operated by Britannia Refined Metals in England, using ore from the Mount Isa mine in Australia. After initial concentration by the Parkes process and removal of the zinc by vacuum distillation, the mixture, which contains silver (70%), lead, and some copper, is treated in a bottom-blown oxygen cupel lead and copper are removed by the injection of oxygen through a shielded lance. 

Refinery Refining performed at Britannia Refined Metals (BRM) Enoland. Pyrometallurgica Refining Brtls Etectrorefining Process Betts R nery... 

Company Name Noranda Inc. Berzelius Stolberg GmbH Boilden Mineral AB Britannia Refined Metals Ltd. Britannia Refined Metals Ltd. 

R. Knight and J. Clark Britannia Refined Metals Northfleet England... 

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE LEAD REFINING OPERATIONS AT BRITANNIA REFINED METALS LTD. 

Britannia Refined Metals Limited Botany Road... 

Britannia Refined Metals Ltd. (BRM) is a wholly owned subsidiary of MIM Holdings Ltd. and operates within the MIM (Europe) group that also includes Britannia Zinc Ltd. (BZL), MIM Huttenwerke Duisberg (MHD) and Britaimia Recycling Ltd. (BRL) at Wakefield, in Yorkshire. The BRM site is located on the south bank of the River Thames, 35 km east of London. There is a deep-water jetty adjacent to the plant where the crude lead fi om Mount Isa and the Imperial Smelting Furnace bullion from Duisberg are unloaded and stored. 

I should like to express my thanks to Britannia Refined Metals Ltd. for permission to present this paper and also my appreciation to those of my colleagues who assisted in its preparation. In particular I should like to mention Tony Piper who is a constant source of ideas and inspiration. 

R.P. Knight and R.J. Reader, The Refining of Lead Bullion and Precious Metals Recovery at Britannia Refined Metals Ltd. , Lead into the Future. IMM, London, England, 1996,53-73. 

The Isasmelt technolt has been described in Chapter 5. However, given its successful introduction at Britannia Refined Metals Northfleet secondary plant, some discussion of the relative advantages of the Isasmelt furnace compared with other secondary smelting processes is in order. 

A number of companies in Europe (Metallgeseiischafc, Metaleurop, Nuova Samim, for example) have important secondary interests in addition to primary smelting activities, and have been actively developing these. So too has MIM, through ownership links with Britannia Refined Metals in the UK. In North America, while several primary smelters use lead scrap feed. Doe Run s Buick secondary plant (opened in 1991) was the first example of direct primary producer involvement in recycling facilities. Emissions from this plant are apparently 60 per cent less than at traditional secondary lead facilities. 

---