CASTLEGAR NEWS REVIEW, March 24, 1985

Electrolytic Cells in the Lead Refinery,

90 VEARS ? IT SEEMS LIKE ONLY
VESTERDAY.... :

We started producing refined metals at Trail in1894.
During 1984, Cominco passed two important
milestones. We’ve produced over

10 million tons of lead and 10 million tons

of zinc since 1894.

We are now working on our next milestones.

Cellroom at the new Zinc Electrolytic and Melting Plant, Trail, B.C.

SEA OF CELLS . . . Refining by electrolysis. This
process was the world's first 83 years ago at Trail
and it's still basically the same os it was then,

MAKING CRYSTALS . . . Pulling a crystal of gollium

arsenide at the Electronic Materials Division at
Trail. The crystal will be rounded, sliced into

other than for solution and handling improvemen-
ts.

waters, and each polished to a mirror finish
Wafers must meet exacting electronic
specifications

CASTLEGAR NEWS REVIEW, March 24, 1985

Cominco reports

good production

Cominco's operations at Trail had a good year of
production in 1984, although prices for metals continued
at the low levels of recent years.

The major event was the shutdown in April of the
last of the old zine electrolytic tank rooms, ending a
system of recovering zinc which had been pioneered in
1916. After April 100 per cent of cathode zinc was
produced in the new, highly-automated! cell rooms
featuring the skinning of zinc deposits by machine rather
than stripping by hand.

The improved productivity and excellent working
conditions are the best in the world in the zine industry.
A small amount of special products are still cast into
ingots in the melting section of the old plant, but nearly
all zine production is cast in the melting section of the
new plant, which is also a major improvement over old
facilities.

Further improvements were made in the pressure
leaching of some of the zinc concentrate, which separates
a zine solution from the sulphur content without
generating sulphur dioxide gas.

This improved performance also contributed to an
all-time record in zine output. A newly-commissioned tail
gas retreatment section resulted in a further reduction of
sulphur dioxide emissions to the atmosphere.

Lead production was at a good level during 1984,
with operating crews responding well to achieving the

FIRST IN WORLD . . . The “pressure cooker” which
separates zinc from sulphur without causing
*

HOT JOB . . . Charging slag to a Lead Smelter
fuming furnace. Cominco, and area people hope
that a federal grant will enable the construction of

best from the aging plant. The lead smelter increasingly
became a focal point in the news with the application by
Cominco early in 1984 for a federal grant under the IRDP
program to assist with the construction of a new smelter
using “state-of-the-art” technology.

The application points out that the capital
investment could not be made without this help. No
decision has been made on this to date.

In addition to generating construction jobs, a modern
“flash smelter” would improve environmental! control and
working conditions, conserve energy — and with its low

operating cost, assure the continuation of the lead *
Trail.

business in

Silver production, at close to a ton per day, was also
high in 1984.

In March of last year, the production of gallium
arsenide wafers was expanded by more than 50 per cent
at the Electronic Materials Division's plant in Trail. First
production was achieved in 1981, with expansion in 1963
and again last year.

The wafers, which are precise, mirror-like disks
measuring three inches in diameter, are sold to producers
of microchips particularly for use in the manufacture of
high performance electronic devices.

Construction in 1984 was at a further reduced rate
compared with the two previous years as work
concentrated on projects which had already been in

sulphur dioxide fumes. This Zinc Pressure Leaching
Plant, now three years old, is a world’: 4

@ new Lead Smelter. This slag fuming will be ob.
solete.

ZINC PLANT... Air
view of the new zinc
electrolytic and melting
plant — six acres under
one root, and the finest
of these plants in the
industry

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