Skorpion Zinc is 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 ...

mine in the

ǁKaras Region The ǁKaras Region (pronounced , with a lateral click) is the southernmost and least densely populated of the 14 regions of Namibia; its capital is Keetmanshoop. The name assigned to the region reflects the prominence of the Karas mountain ra ...

of southern

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

, producing Special High Grade (SHG) zinc. The mine is situated near Rosh Pinah. It was established at a cost of US$450 million by Anglo American in 2003. It is the tenth-largest zinc mine in the world, and the largest employer in Rosh Pinah, providing 1,900 jobs. Skorpion is a unique mine in several ways. Firstly, it is a supergene zinc ore body composed of

alluvial Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. All ...

accumulations of zinc carbonate and silicate minerals of detrital nature deposited within a palaeochannel. There are no other currently commercially viable deposits of this type. It is also one of the few mines in the world that currently mines zinc oxides, a mixture of non-sulphidic zinc minerals such as smithsonite, hydrozincite, tarbuttite and willemite. Finally, it is the only zinc processing facility to use solvent extraction-electrowinning metallurgy to process and refine its zinc products (others using conventional

smelting Smelting is a process of applying heat to ore, to extract a base metal. It is a form of extractive metallurgy. It is used to extract many metals from their ores, including silver, iron, copper, and other base metals. Smelting uses heat and a ...

and roasting). The Skorpion SX-EW plant creates Special High Grade, ultra-pure zinc cathode as a primary product, which is so low in impurities that it commands a price premium. In November 2010 the project was acquired by

Vedanta Resources Vedanta Resources Limited is an Indian diversified mining company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest mining and non-ferrous metals company in India and has mining operations in Australia and Zambia and oil and gas oper ...

at a cost of US$707 million. In 2019, Vedanta announced mining would be suspended for a four months due to technical problems. Then in 2020 Vedanta placed the mine on

care and maintenance Care and maintenance is a term used in the mining industry to describe processes and conditions on a closed minesite where there is potential to recommence operations at a later date. During a care and maintenance phase, production is stopped but t ...

due to pit failures.

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