EZ Industries, formerly the Electrolytic Zinc Company, was a

zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...

miner and refiner in Australia.

History

EZ Industries was established in 1916 by

Amalgamated Zinc Amalgamated zinc is zinc that has been surface treated with mercury to form a surface amalgam containing little contamination from other elements. It is typically used for reduction, and is written as Zn(Hg) in reactions. Applications * Used fro ...

as the Electrolytic Zinc Company to operate the

Risdon Zinc Works Risdon Zinc Works (trading as Nyrstar Hobart) is a major zinc refinery located in Lutana, a suburb of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. The smelter is one of the world’s largest in terms of production volume, producing over annually of high-grade ...

on the banks of the Derwent River in

Risdon, Tasmania Risdon is a suburb of Hobart, capital city of Tasmania. It is west of Risdon Vale. History It derives its name from Captain William Bellamy Risdon, second officer of the ship ''Duke of Clarence'', which visited the area as part of Sir John Haye ...

. It was renamed EZ Industries in February 1957. In 1967, EZ purchased the

Emu Bay Railway The Emu Bay Railway was a Tasmania, Australian railway company. The railway was significant during full operation, in that it linked the Tasmanian Government Railways system at Burnie with that at Zeehan that further linked to the Mount Lyell ...

. In February 1983, EZ opened the Elura Nine near

Cobar Cobar is a town in central western New South Wales, Australia whose economy is based mainly upon base metals and gold mining. The town is by road northwest of the state capital, Sydney. It is at the crossroads of the Kidman Way and Barrier Hig ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. It built a 45 kilometre railway line to connect with the

Main Western railway line The Main Western Railway is a major railway in New South Wales, Australia. It runs through the Blue Mountains, Central West, North West Slopes and the Far West regions. It is with operational & under construction & repairs. Description o ...

to move zinc to

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

for shipping to Risdon. In 1984, EZ was taken over by North Broken Hill Peko. EZ owned a 31% stake in the

Ranger Uranium Mine The Ranger Uranium Mine was a uranium mine in the Northern Territory of Australia. The site is surrounded by, but separate from Kakadu National Park, 230 km east of Darwin. The orebody was discovered in late 1969, and the mine commenced ...

through its

Energy Resources of Australia Energy Resources of Australia Ltd () is a public company based in Australia. It is a subsidiary of the Rio Tinto Group which as of 2021 owns 86.3% of the company. The remainder is publicly held and traded on the Australian Securities Exchange. Th ...

shareholding.Uranium bonanza for EZ
''Canberra Times'' 24 August 1983 page 30

References

{{Mining companies of Australia, state=collapsed Companies based in Melbourne Metal companies of Australia Zinc companies 1916 establishments in Australia 1984 disestablishments in Australia