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New equipment for mineral processing has arrived to Zapolyarny, where Nornickel’s subsidiary Kola Mining and metallurgical Company’s concentrator plant is located. The equipment is made by Outotec in Finland and includes processing technology for filtration, thickening, flotation and analyzer equipment.
When is full operation, the new technology will make it possible to separate rich quality materials from ore with less nickel. By separating out the nickel-rich concentrates, much of the sulfur will be removed before shipped to the smelter in the town of Nikel.
Consequently, the emission of sulfur dioxide (SO2) will be reduced substantially. The run-down plant in Nikel has for decades been a torn in cross-border relation in the Barents Region as the pollution hits neighboring Norway and Finland as well as the fragile taiga-forest on Russia’s own Kola Peninsula.
Periodically, the smog in the town of Nikel has exceeded federal limits by 10 times or more.
«Removing sulfuric raw materials in the processing is intended to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide in the smelter and thereby reduce the negative impact on the environment,» Kola MMC writes on its company portal.
Kola MMC produces annually 383,000 tonnes of nickel concentrate in Zapolyarny coming from the underground mines.
For the rest of this article: https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/ecology/2018/08/finnish-technology-reduces-pollution-nikel