To Touch More Milestones

The longevity of mines is a major driver of our growth plans, supporting our vision of continued value creation for all our stakeholders. Hindustan Zinc’s exploration objective is to upgrade resources into reserves and replenish every tonne of mined metal to sustain more than 25 years of metal production by fostering innovation and using new technologies. The Company has an aggressive exploration programme focussed on delineating and upgrading Ore Reserves and Mineral Resources (R&R) within its licence areas. Technology adoption and innovations play a key role in enhancing our exploration success. The deposits are 'open' in depth, and exploration has identified a number of new targets on mining leases, having potential to increase R&R over the next 12 months. Across all the sites, the Company has increased its surface drilling to assist in resource addition and in upgrading resources to reserves.

During the Year

• Total Ore Reserves stand at 173.5 Mt (net of depletion of FY 2022-23 production of 16.7 Mt) at the end of FY 2022-23 (161.2 Mt at the end of FY 2021-22) due to continued focus on resource to reserve conversion during the year; exclusive Mineral Resource totalled 286.6 Mt
• Combined R&R estimated to be 460.1 Mt, containing 30.8 Mt of zinc-lead metal and 855.9 million ounces of silver
• Overall mine life continues to be more than 25 years

Going Forward

• Target generation through drill testing at Zawar Mine (ZM), Rajpura Dariba Mine (RDM), Sindesar Khurd Mine (SKM), Rampura Agucha Mine (RAM) and by application of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) along with advance geophysics
• Retain existing mining leases in Hindustan Zinc’s portfolio, acquire new potential areas through auction and secure new tenements for R&R growth
• Exploration plan to enhance Mineral Resource by 15 Mt ore intermediately, and by 40 Mt ore eventually with contained metal of 2 Mt
• Upgrade Ore Reserves for sustained mine production for the next 10 years; upgradation to 42 Mt eventually, leading to total R&R of over 500 Mt with ~35 Mt metal, and further of ~40 Mt metal in Hindustan Zinc’s portfolio

Volume growth is a key focus area at Hindustan Zinc, with our world-class assets driving the same. In our vision to be the world’s largest and the most admired zinc, lead and silver company, we continue to focus on investing in the organic and inorganic expansion of our capacities and operating with the highest levels of operational excellence. This philosophy has helped us to grow over the years, and to outperform our prior achievements while maintaining over 25 years of mine life. Our FY 2022-23 operational performance provides us the motivation and confidence of achieving another year of record-setting performance, and with supporting MIC flow, our smelters are geared to achieve 1,050 - 1,075 kt of refined metal in FY 2023-24.

During the Year

• Achieved highest ever mined and refined metal production of 1,062 kt and 1,032 kt respectively, geared towards achieving our stated capacities in the coming years
• Undertook upgradation of skip and cage compartment at Sindesar Khurd mine to enhance capacity utilisation to 100% level
• Successfully conducted public hearing at Chanderiya to obtain environmental clearance for the expansion of Chanderiya Lead-Zinc Smelter (CLZS)
• Production at Zinc Smelter Debari (ZSD) increased by 20.5% resulting from a complete revamp of the ZSD cell house
• Smelters achieved their designed recovery through our concerted efforts towards debottlenecking the entire value chain

Going Forward

• Exploring new mining leases and working on advocacy for opening new mining sites while focussing on further ramp-up of underground mines towards their designed capacity of 1.2 Mtpa, followed by incremental ramp-up to 1.25 Mtpa and eventually to 1.5 Mtpa
• RAM: Study on alternate access to the portal
• ZM: New portal commencement at Zawarmala mine to enhance production up to 2 Mtpa, hook-up of hydraulic fill plant with mill-2 to expedite filling at Mochia and Balaria mines, thereby improving ore recovery by FY 2023-24, establishment of a new tailings storage facility (TSF), and completion of mill-3 to increase beneficiation capacity
• RDM: Commissioning of a combined paste-fill and dry tailings plant in FY 2023-24, increasing the ore production from 1.5 Mtpa to 2 Mtpa, followed by a new beneficiation plant that will increase RDM’s treatment capacity from 1.1 Mtpa to 1.5 Mtpa
• SKM: Commissioning of vertical conveyor to mine high-grade shaft pillar area
• Smelters

• Debottlenecking of Debari cell house and other efficiency improvement initiatives to achieve overall finished goods (FG) production of 1.1 Mtpa
• Capacity expansion through major overhauling of roaster-3 in FY 2023-24, followed by commissioning of roaster-6 and addition of one more smelter to take overall capacity to 1.5 Mtpa
• Further scaling up of our silver production to achieve capacity of 800 MT, and moving gradually towards 1,000 MT in line with our vision to be among the top three global primary silver producers

Being a fully integrated producer focussed on driving sustainable growth, Hindustan Zinc continues to strive towards growing its operations while maintaining an effective control over its costs. This has helped us maintain our position in the first quartile of the global zinc cost curve, and we continue to be one of the lowest cost producers of zinc globally. Some of the drivers towards maintaining our cost leadership are increased volumes, improved grades, greater focus on innovation, automation and digitalisation to ensure higher operational efficiencies and consequently, better cost rationalisation.

During the Year

• Operated Pyro plant on zinc lead mode, reducing zinc cost of production (COP) and improving lead and silver production
• Undertook various alternate fuels innovation, thereby pushing operational efficiencies
• Implemented flexible operations by dynamically making decisions, basis external factors like power offtake from external sources at cheaper and economical rates as required, thereby controlling power costs
• Focussed on reducing equipment cost, increasing productivity, improving utilisation of machines and rationalising deployment of machines underground
• Advanced process controls commissioned at all beneficiation plants of RAM, ensuring optimal throughput and metal recovery
• Treatment of raw zinc oxide (RZO) in RKD circuit (component of overall Fumer project) continued during the entire year
• Enhanced minor metal recovery by 56% over previous year, resulting in higher cost credits

Going Forward

• Maintaining cost of production in FY 2023-24 between US$ 1,125 - US$ 1,175 per tonne through efficient ore hauling, higher volume and grades besides higher productivity through ongoing efforts in automation and digitalisation
• Evaluating opportunities to drive higher volumes and increase market share
• Close tracking of geopolitical events which may lead to cost impacts, and proactively taking steps to mitigate any negative effects that may arise
• Sourcing of 450 MW renewable energy (RE) power at fixed rate for the next 25 years, providing better cost visibility and predictability
• Engineering of Dariba lead cellhouse to reduce cost while increasing efficiency and recovery
• In the long run, maintain cost of production below US$ 1,000 per tonne through proactive cost saving measures, enhanced production and continued operational efficiencies

Conscious of the evolving needs of customers, we have focussed on expansion of our value-added product (VAP) portfolio. Through Hindustan Zinc Alloys Private Limited (HZAPL) and Hindustan Zinc Fertilisers Private Limited (HZFPL), we shall move from a commodity-based company to a product-based company with better ability to cater to the needs and requirements of the domestic market. Through HZAPL, we shall focus on producing alloys with specific usage in automotive industry, bathroom fixtures, appliances, coating in the sheet industry, which require a higher customer-centric approach. We shall continue to work towards finding niche applications of zinc alloys so that we can cater to these segments too. Through HZFPL, we will be able to support farmers’ needs through production and sale of DAP fertilisers, which are largely being imported at present.

During the Year

• Through the set-up of HZAPL, adopted the subsidiary route to ensure focussed and quality production of VAPs
• Actively invested in the development of new products through downstream applications
• Received Board’s approval and commenced work on the set-up of HZFPL

Going Forward

• Commissioning of HZAPL to cater to the demand in the Indian market and deliver international quality products while commanding a premium in the domestic market
• Focus on innovation of new products in lead alloys and increased penetration of zinc alloys
• Increase share of value-added products to 20%-25%
• Commissioning of 510 Ktpa HZFPL plant in Chanderiya to better utilise sulphuric acid generated in operations through production of fertilisers, making the country future-ready and supporting the mission of Aatmanirbhar Bharat. This will contribute to the environment circuitously, enabling us to fetch right margins

The Company is continually working towards reducing its carbon footprint and lowering the impact of its business on environment. Efforts are therefore aimed at improving efficiencies, ensuring optimal utilisation of natural resources, increasing the use of renewable energy in its operations and growing in a safe and sustainable manner. This is reflected in our Sustainable Development Goals 2025, and also in our continued voluntary and progressive ESG-related disclosures in line with global best practices.

During the Year

• Signed long-term power delivery agreements (PDA) for sourcing up to 450 MW of renewable energy (RE)
• Green zinc being produced by Pantnagar metal plant by using 100% RE in the form of hydropower
• Increased biomass utilisation for power generation, thus reducing carbon footprint through our captive thermal power plants
• Waste management through jarosite utilisation in cement industry through modification in existing circuits
• Commissioned a 3,200 KLD zero liquid discharge (RO-ZLD) plant at the Dariba smelter
• Deployed India’s first battery electric vehicle (BEV) in UG mining at SKM, introduced LNG-powered truck and electrical trucks for upstream and downstream transportation and signed MoUs with various manufacturers to introduce battery-operated vehicles in UG operations
• Business partners introduced EVs, forklifts, towing vehicles and passenger vehicles in smelters

Going Forward

• By sourcing up to 450 MW RE power, over 50% of our energy requirements will be met through green power with an estimated emission reduction of 2.7 mn tCO₂e
• Migration to 100% mechanised charging at ZM, leading to improved safety, faster charging and increased pull per blast
• Transition to one-third BEV deployment at RAM and SKM in near term, and target of converting all diesel-run 900-odd mining vehicles into battery-operated ones over the next few years with an investment of over US$ 1 billion
• Construction and commissioning of new ZLD plants at Agucha and Zawar
• Commissioning of Fumer plant in CLZS to eliminate Jarosite generation from one hydro smelter