Deployed computer vision-image processing technology to identify any unsafe act or conditions in the underground mines by detecting real-time personnel entries into dangerous and high-risk zones.
Identifying and detecting hot/cold spots in the cell house, using infrared camera-based image processing and recording heat maps to take timely corrective actions. This helps in reducing shorts and voltage drops, and improving the overall current efficiency.
Using a computer vision-based model to continuously monitor and analyse the sinter burner flame to identify whether the flame is running in optimal mode or not, and to take timely corrective action. This helps in reducing light diesel oil consumption in sinter.
The leaders at Hindustan Zinc have always created an inclusive environment and ensured equity on all fronts for which I am thankful. Our talent management initiatives are setting an example for our industry peers.
Close monitoring of the gaps between the grate bars in the pallets in a sinter machine is vital to ensuring optimised air flow and flame progression. A sinter machine is made of a series of pallets, where the concentrate with fluxes is placed, and the bottom layer is fired using fuel. Fans blow fresh air from the bottom, which takes the flame across the bed, sintering the ore to form the sinter product as lumps.
At the Chanderiya Lead-Zinc Smelter (CLZS), we have developed and deployed a computer vision-based model to monitor and analyse the health of the sinter belt conveyor. This helps detect the spacing between grate bars, thus indicating the health of each link of the sinter machine.
Early detection of maintenance requirements using analytical anomaly detection, to improve the availability and reliability of critical assets. We use IoT-based smart sensors that generate data, which is consumed by AI-based solutions to detect anomalies and run auto-fault diagnostics for taking timely corrective actions.
Detecting and monitoring hydrogen gas using smart IoT sensors helps identify any gas leakage and prevent hazardous conditions. It provides highly selective, specific, and instantaneous response to hydrogen gas, and is integrated with the auto-alarm system.
Hindustan Zinc’s journey towards the cloud, leveraging RISE with SAP, is a key step towards becoming an intelligent and sustainable enterprise. Embracing new-age, path breaking, state-of-the-art technology, will solidify the company’s position as an industry-early mover, while enhancing their competitive advantage. HZL’s V-RISE initiative will help them be future-ready with reduced business disruptions, as they transform overall SAP operations & management, including cyber resilience and business continuity. Additionally, RISE with SAP will also help HZL govern their carbon impact and fast-track the implementation of cutting-edge technologies, like Business AI, resulting in an improved stakeholder engagement and long-term growth.
Additional ore hoisting of c.800 MT/day achieved by utilising automation and tele-remote operations of loaders, helping in maintenance of consistent feed to mills through shaft during shift changeover. Besides maximising the utilisation of the loader, the initiative is helping provide consistent and reliable operations to boost productivity and safety.
Automated production/consumption booking in SAP for various materials like lead concentrate, zinc concentrate, finished goods, calcine, sulphuric acid (H2SO4), sodium sulphate (Na2SO4), zinc sulphate (ZnSO4), zinc dust, etc., helps in eliminating human intervention, thereby improving the overall transparency and governance.
Improved accuracy in reporting, and reduced manhours and timelines through end-to-end automation of the treasury process across the verticals of investments, borrowings, forex, trade finance, etc., while ensuring the highest standards of transparency and governance.
During FY 2023-24, Hindustan Zinc upgraded to SAP S4 HANA, a new-generation Enterprise Resource Planning. This was further moved to the SAP RISE cloud platform.
This upgrade will aid our cloud transformation journey, and future-proof our technology landscape in line with our digital-first goals for a future-ready organisation. The project, envisioned as VRISE, positions Hindustan Zinc among the top mining companies to adopt such a platform.
This state-of-the-art and robust technology platform enables us to optimise workflows, strengthen security & compliance protocols, improve system efficiency, attain operational excellence, and pave the way for technology-led innovation. Additionally, RISE with SAP is essential to our larger green IT program, providing faster time to value (TTV) with quick landscape provisioning. This migration has been achieved in a record time with minimal business downtime, setting an industry benchmark for the Company.
Reduced turnaround time between purchase requisition (PR) and purchase order (PO) creation through touchless request for proposal (RFP) and draft note for approval (NFA) creation, auction suggestion based on pre-defined rules and conditions, smart learning and data update on materialwise BPs, and automation of other repetitive tasks across applications and systems.
Helps to monitor and inspect the health of inaccessible structures (stacks & chimneys) safely and remotely. The inspection covers a wide variety of materials, like carbon steel, insulated mild steel, concrete, and fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP), which are used in the construction of stacks. The aerial inspection is performed based on visual feed, thermal, and ultrasonic sensors, i.e., non-destructive testing, which helps in inspecting the condition and health of the structure, and thereby assists in scheduling timely maintenance and repairs, if required.
To reduce the consumption of zinc dust at the Chanderiya Lead-Zinc Smelter (CLZS), we have developed a recommendation model for zinc dust addition in the leaching and purification section (Hydro-2). The model is designed to optimise zinc dust feeding and its specific consumption, leading to reduced operational costs. It also enhances efficiency and accuracy by eliminating human intervention and dependence on an individual’s skills in decision-making.
Drone-based stope scanning helps to reduce dilution by c.1% by eliminating shallow and open sections in the scan and provides greater point cloud density, which helps to optimise stope drills and blast outcomes.
STL Digital is a global IT services and consulting company dedicated to delivering exceptional digital transformation experiences for enterprises. It has established strategic partnerships with top technology firms and start-ups to provide end-to-end digital solutions that enhance customer experiences. With a comprehensive portfolio of services, including product engineering, cloud and cybersecurity, data and artificial intelligence (AI), and enterprise software as a service (SaaS), STL Digital works closely with businesses worldwide to deliver innovative experiences and operational excellence with agility.
In FY 2023-24, STL Digital partnered with Hindustan Zinc in the IT and digital space. One of the notable assignments was upgradation to SAP S4 HANA Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and moving to SAP RISE cloud-based innovation platform to become future-ready. This was achieved in a record time of six months, making it the fastest projects of its kind, thus setting an industry benchmark for minimal business downtime requirement. STL Digital worked closely with Hindustan Zinc right from product selection, to solution design, commercial negotiation and implementation, thus helping achieve significant cost benefits and business value from this engagement.
STL Digital continues to work closely with Hindustan Zinc and its subsidiaries towards implementing the next phase of digital transformation. This includes driving strategic technology-led business transformation initiatives, helping to create a resilient cybersecurity posture, achieving IT operational excellence, and rationalising the overall technology portfolio and related investments.
Asset optimisation provides significant sustainable competitive advantage to Hindustan Zinc in its continuous efforts to achieve best-in-class asset reliability and operational excellence. We focus on managing our assets competently and cost-effectively throughout their lifecycles to ensure sustainable value creation. This ensures that our assets operate when needed, perform safely and without harm to the environment, produce at their required capacity, and deliver quality products that meet customer expectations.
We are implementing leading asset management practices to ensure that our assets are fit for purpose when we buy, build or modify them, and they operate as per design/operating envelopes. This also helps in proper lifecycle maintenance of the assets, and their proper replacement/retirement at the end of their economic life by engaging all key stakeholders, including operations and maintenance.
In FY 2023-24, our efforts helped to deliver ₹ 628 crore worth of projects through Structured Idea Generation Campaign, and brainstorming on key issues at site with focus on value delivery for business. Small improvement initiatives was another key area that helped in delivering ₹ 21 crore savings from 7,500+ such initiatives, with a participation of 6,300 personnel, including business partner employees.
A focussed improvement initiative across our mines in FY 2023-24 led to a significant reduction of 13% in lubricant consumption from the consumption norms of 881 KL per quarter in FY 2022-23. The project underscored the importance of efficient resource management, yielding significant environmental and cost benefits. It involved finalisation of consumption norms based on fleet operating hours, reconditioning lube oil, closely tracking daily and weekly usage of lube oil, and ensuring timely actions to adhere to the target norms. It lowered lubricant consumption in FY 2023-24 by 456 KL across mines, while contributing to cost savings of ₹ 5 crore and an ESG benefit of 685 kt CO2 emissions reduction
At Zawar Mines, a cross-functional team brainstormed on the probable cause of frequent breakdowns in locomotive transmission. It found that oil overheating was causing frequent tripping and poor lubrication & failure. The team initiated a Kaizen exercise, enhancing the cooling of oil circuit managing temperature within range. This improved the reliability of the equipment, increasing its life by 20%, and also contributed to cost saving.
An innovative idea led to an increase in cathode production from 260 MT/day in FY 2022-23 to 273 MT/day in FY 2023-24 at Zinc Smelter Debari (ZSD). The initiative majorly involved the replacement of the 15.5 kA rectifier with a 20 kA rectifier, and increment in cell height in circuit 1 by 150 mm in 240 cells. Circuit 2 will undergo cell height increase in FY 2024-25 to achieve the target cathode production of 283 MT/day.
At the Rampura Agucha Mine (RAM), lead recovery improved from 63.6% to 64.3% and silver recovery from 36.15% to 38.45% during FY 2023-24. This was the result of various innovations, including indigenous ideas for usage of specialty silver promoter chemicals and new design rotors, conversion of inner launder type to outer launder type for better collection of froth and ease of maintenance, and improvement of hydrodynamics and surface flux from cell, thereby increasing the retention time.
Our commitment to providing outstanding products and services that surpasses customer expectations is unwavering. To ensure the highest levels of excellence in our offerings, we have in place strong quality systems that ensure “doing the things right the first time” across the value chain. Our laboratories are accredited to the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) and conform to the ISO/IEC 17025: 2017 standard on requirements of competence of testing and calibration laboratories for our raw materials, inprocess and finished goods. This endorses our strong and unbiased measurement systems. All our laboratories are integrated with enterprise resource planning system (SAP S4) and historian systems through an online laboratory information management system (LIMS) that generates and communicates automated reports to all the relevant stakeholders to take data-driven decisions.
In addition to our leaders’ commitment on quality through “Quality Policy”, we have launched a “Customer Delight Policy”, based on NGRBC (National Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct) principles, ISO 9001:2015 and ISO/IEC 17025:2017 requirements. The policy seeks to build strong customer relationships by providing high-value products and services, understanding/anticipating customer needs, and ensuring total employee engagement with accountability.
In FY 2023-24, our efforts to make Hindustan Zinc a preferred choice for our customers by improving the quality of our finished goods resulted in a 33% reduction in customer complaints. At the same time, stringent quality assurance at the source of raw materials resulted in improvement in the suppliers’ performance by 22%. For in-process quality, all our units are assessed annually under the Vedanta Quality Management Framework through independent third-party assessors. We witnessed a 9% improvement in the overall performance of the Company in compliance with the quality management framework. Quality Circle Forum of India (QCFI)-Centre of Excellence has recognised Hindustan Zinc as “Best TQM Organisation - 2024” at TQM India Unison - 2024, held in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh.
Balaria Mine at Zawar was faced with the challenge of poor overall feed grade, primarily because of narrow ore body (up to 2 metre wide) with 60° dipping. These characteristics are prone to high dilution and reduced stope recovery. To overcome these issues, we adopted a non-traditional approach for such stoping activities. With stage mining, 25 metre slice and rock filling sequence method, we were able to mine a stope of 50 metre height, with 100% recovery improvement. It also led to reduction in external dilution from 120% to 8%. This has improved the overall feed grade from Balaria mine.
Grade and recovery are two important quality parameters for any beneficiation plant. In our endeavour to improve the same at the Rampura Agucha Mill, we have done in-house modification of the zinc cleaner circuit by raising the height gradient between two zinc cleaner stages. Additionally, both dart shafts in the zinc rougher circuits were automated to ensure better control on mass pull, along with installation of froth cameras for measurement of froth characteristics and integrating the same with advanced process controller (APC). This has resulted in 0.5% net improvement in recovery, which has ultimately contributed to 700 MT additional mined metal during the year.
During FY 2023-24, Hindustan Zinc has been granted two patents titled “Method for production of lead by performing dross removal procedures” and “Method for production of zinc by utilising lead plant slag” related to the novel and efficient method of producing lead by developing the alternate cooling mechanism of dross removal procedure having better turnaround time and efficient method of production of zinc metal from lead plant slag, which is a waste material generated from the lead smelting process. Zinc metal is a valuable material that has various applications in industries such as galvanising, alloys, die casting, and batteries.
These inventions relate to the field of pyro metallurgy, and relate to increasing yield of zinc and lead by utilisation of in-house innovations. The patent methods offer significant benefits to the zinc and lead industry by providing a cost-effective, high-performance alternative to the existing methods of production. These methods can potentially set new standards for best practices and quality benchmarks in the industry and enhance the competitiveness and reputation of Hindustan Zinc as a leading producer of zinc metal.
Till date, Hindustan Zinc has obtained 7 Indian patents and 3 international patents. We are also in the process of preparing additional patent applications to protect the innovative solutions currently being developed in-house.
Details of this initiative are carried in the Health & Safety section of this Report.