Chenzhou Launches Hydrofluoric Acid Project       

On April 29th, Chenzhou Fluorine Chemistry Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Hunan Nonferrous Metals Holding Group Co., Ltd., held a ground breaking ceremony for its fluorine chemicals project in Chenzhou, Hunan province. The project will be carried out in two phases. In the first phase, the company will invest RMB400 million to construct a comprehensive system for recovering fluorite from mine tailings in the Shizhuyuan mine area as well as four hydrofluoric acid production lines. Upon completion, the company will be able to produce 120 000 t/a of fluorite concentrate and 60 000 t/a of hydrofluoric acid. In the second phase, using hydrofluoric acid as raw material, the company will develop high value-added inorganic and organic fluorine chemicals so as to extend the product chain.
   At present, construction on the first-phase project, i.e. the comprehensive recovery system, was started, and the system is expected to be formally put into operation in December 2009. After the system is put into operation, the average annual sales of Chenzhou Fluorine Chemistry will reach more than RMB600 million.
   Land for building the hydrofluoric acid plant has also been selected, and the construction of the plant is scheduled to start in October 2009 and be completed in the first half of 2010.
   In the next five years, the company plans to invest a total of RMB1.2 billion to build a large-scale production base for nonferrous fluorine chemicals in Chenzhou.