Zinc

Facts

Symbol: Zn 

Appearance: Bluish pale grey    

Melting Point: 419.53 C

Boiling Point: 907 C

Did you know...

That zinc was the 8th metal known to man and it was first produced in India as early as the 12th century, but it wasn't until the 16th century that it was first referred to as 'Zincum'.

Zinc

Boliden produces metals that make modern life work.

Boliden Zinc

Boliden is the world's fifth largest producer of zinc metal from smelters and the eighth largest producer of metal in concentrate from mines.

At our two zinc plants, in Kokkola, Finland and in Odda, Norway, annual production exceeds 450,000 metric tonnes of zinc.

Zinc is a hard and brittle base metal with a silver grey appearance. Approximately half of all zinc produced is used to protect steel from rusting. Zinc is alloyable with aluminium, nickel, magnesium and copper for applications in the steel galvanizing, die-cast and brass industry.

Boliden's zinc meets the quality requirements for Special High Grade (SHG) with 99.995 percent Zn purity - or higher from the London Metal Exchange. Our products include slabs and jumbo ingots all in Special High Grade and jumbos for continuous and general galvanizing alloys.

Boliden mainly supplies customers in the European steel galvanizing industry and the main end-users are the construction and automotive industries.

Uses of Zinc

A coating of zinc on steel is enough to fight rust for over 50 years. More than half of the zinc used globally goes to galvanizing - protection of steel against corrosion. So zinc helps to preserve the world's assets and furthers the goal of sustainable development.

To read more, click on Uses of Zinc link.

Zinc and Health

Life would be impossible without zinc: in trace amounts, it is an essential trace element needed by humans, animals and plants. It is vital for many biological functions and plays a crucial role in more than 300 enzymes in the human body. The adult body contains about 2-3 grams of zinc. It is found in all parts of the body but muscles and bones contain approximately 90% of the body's zinc. It also plays a vital role in fertility. Among all the vitamins and minerals, zinc shows the strongest effect on our all-important immune system.

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