Lead & Zinc

Lead

Lead (Pb) is a naturally occurring element found in small amounts in the earth’s crust. It is one of the oldest metals known to humans. Its widespread occurrence, relatively simple extraction and combination of desirable properties have made it useful to humans since at least 5000 BC. In deposits mined today, lead is usually found in ore which also contains zinc, silver and commonly copper and is extracted as a co-product of these metals. More than half of the lead consumed today comes from recycling, rather than mining.

Lead\\\'s malleability and ease of smelting accounted for its early use in pipes and lead sheeting for construction purposes. Most lead today is used in batteries for motor vehicles and in communications.

Some of the lead’s specifications could be observed in the tables bellow:

Remelted Lead ingot (97% min)

Pb min	Zn max	Sn max	Cu max	Sb Min & max	Bi max	Ag max	Cd max	As max	Ni max	Te max	Ca max	Se max	Al max
97%	0.0007	0.2	0.2	1-2.5	0.008	0.003	0.0008	0.06	0.0001	0.0033	0.0015	0.0014	0.0010

Refined Lead ingot (99.98% min) :

Pb min	Zn max	Sn max	Cu max	Sb max	Bi max	Ag max	Cd max	As max	Ni max	Te max	Ca max	Se max	Al max
99.98%	0.0002	0.0005	0.0008	0.0001	0.014	0.0019	0.0004	0.0015	0.0015	0.0002	0.0015	0.0001	0.0006

Zinc

Zinc is a natural component of the earth’s crust and an inherent part of our environment. Zinc is present not only in rock and soil, but also in air, water and the biosphere. Plants, animals and humans contain zinc.

Zinc is used for galvanising or coating iron and steel to protect against rust in large-scale construction projects, in motor vehicle bodies and roof sheeting.

Specifications of zinc could be observed in the table below:

Primary High Grade Zinc Ingots with min 99.95% Zinc content

Zn min	Pb max	Cd max	Cu max	Fe max	As	Ni max
99.95%	0.0350	0.0040	0.0015	0.0020	Trace	0.0012