| Production in VM ZINC® Plants |
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The Company has production plants in Belgium, France, Germany, Peru, Portugal, and Switzerland.
A four stage production process
Zinc is a naturally occurring metal which is found in large quantities in the form of ore in the earth's crust.
All operations, from the transformation of the ore to the production of rolled zinc and finished products, are carried out within the Umicore Zinc Group to which the VM ZINC® brand belongs.
The Smelting Unit transforms the ore into zinc oxide in a process called "roasting", and into a zinc sulphate solution from the calcinated zinc in a process called "leaching". The solution obtained supplies the electrolysis hall where 99,995% pure zinc is obtained.
After the electrolytic process, the zinc is rolled in two VM ZINC® rolling mills in France, one at Auby in northern France, and the other at Viviez, in south west France.
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1. Alloying
The first stage consists of melting the pure metal deposited on the cathodes during the electrolysis process and adding a controlled amount of copper and titanium in a series of induction furnaces to produce a liquid alloy. |
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2. Casting
The liquid metal is then transferred to a continuous casting machine for solidification into a continuous slab, about twelve millimetres thick and approximately a metre wide. The controlled cooling process within the machine produces a fine, homogeneous grain structure.
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3. Rolling
Three to five rolling operations are performed to reduce the slab to the required thickness. Throughout this process, temperature, rolling speed and reduction rate are closely monitored and adjusted to obtain the requisite mechanical and dimensional characteristics.
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4. Slitting into sheets and coils
One of the final steps involves slitting the rolled zinc into sheets or coils of the requisite weight, width and thickness on specialised finishing lines. |
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