No Change for Copper A. D. "Doug" Zunkel, MSc. Met. 1965 and DSc. Met. 1967, is a consultant to mineral and chemical industries. He looked into the technological crystal regarding nonferrous smelters and refineries and product applications in the early 21st century for base metals (lead, copper and zinc) and concluded that copper and zinc smelters and refineries will look, operate and perform economically much like they do in the early 1990s. "Lead smelting and refining will undergo a technological revolution in the 1990s leading to the extinction of the conventional sinter-blast furnace-kettle refining process in the early-mid 21st century."   It will be replaced by the environmentally improved QSL, Kivcet, TBRC, or flash smelting technology and by continuous refining. Primary and secondary lead processing will integrate as new plants replace the old," he said. Zunkel said that inadequate support of base metals smelting and refining technology development, particularly in North America, during the 1980s and early 1990s will become more apparent, as little new technology will be available for application and that which has reached commercial applicability will have been developed overseas. The metallurgist foresees technological developments in the early 2000s continuing to follow the trends of the 1990s since most of the North American research and development infrastructure has been dismantled, probably never to be rebuilt. "Look for continued emphasis on technology development to come from outside of North America," he said. In the early 2000s Zunkel says the focus will continue on wire and rod applications for copper, galvanizing and die casting for zinc and storage batteries for lead. New applications later are hard to visualize due to small amounts of product development work being undertaken by industry. New demand will more likely come from developments outside-from industries which will use metals rather than produce them. From a product viewpoint, Zunkel said lead is most vulnerable due to market concentration and breakthrough product technology. However, zinc is becoming increasingly concentrated. The copper industry will survive due to wider diversity of end use products than other metals. "All will continue to be important as our civilization, particularly in Third World countries, rushes into the next century demanding better products, more infrastructure, and an increased standard of living-each has a major contribution to make," he concluded. The Mines Magazine – August 1990