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By Messrs S.V. Ekimov, I.V. Samodova, Dr. I.M. Petrov,
Dr. V.V. Troitsky and Dr. M.A. Burstein

    Nonferrous metallurgy is one of the greatest sources of environmental pollution in Russia. Almost 23% of harmful industrial emissions to the atmosphere in Russia are attributable to nonferrous metallurgical plants, the second-greatest source after the power industry. The following paper, by Messrs S.V. Ekimov, I.V. Samodova, I.M. Petrov, V.V. Troitsky and M.A. Burstein, is a review of the environmental impact of Russian nonferrous-metals production.

    Volumes by type of industrial harmful emissions released into the atmosphere in Russia for 1995-2000 are shown in Table 1. The great bulk of the emissions (around 80%) are in the form of sulphur dioxide, originating from the roasting and smelting of sulphur-containing minerals. It is important to compare the volume of nonferrous emissions and its changes over time with the corresponding changes in volume of overall production in the sector (Figure 1, based to 1995).

Table 1: Volume and composition of harmful emissions from Russian nonferrous metals production ('000 t)

Component	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000
Total	3,693.2	3,598.1	3,621.7	3,291.8	3,311.8	3,476.9
Including:
Solid (dust)	334.2	297.8	271.6	229.3	233.0	267.0
Liquid and gaseous	3,358.9	3,300.3	3,350.1	3,062.5	3,078.8	3,209.9
Sulphur dioxide	2,872.0	2,850.2	2,950.2	2,701.4	2,729.5	2,765.3
Carbon dioxide	381.8	351.5	309.1	266.7	261.3	350.9
Nitrogen oxides	55.4	51.9	44.7	44.3	42.6	48.0
Hydrocarbons (without volatile organic compounds)	2.0	1.5	1.6	3.5	1.7	1.8
Volatile organic compounds	2.5	1.6	0.9	1.8	2.0	2.4

Source: State Committee on Statistics of Russia (Goskomstat)


Figure 1. Harmful emissions to atmosphere of Russian nonferrous metallurgy, 1995-2000 %

In recent years, the index of the emissions lags behind the corresponding index of the production volume, especially in 1999 and 2000. In 2000, the production volume increased 14.5% year-on-year as emissions grew by only 5%,implying decreasing emissions per tonne of product. At the same time, the proportion of harmful emissions captured by the producers increased from 83% to 84% (Figure 2).


Figure 2. Rate of capture and utilisation of harmful components from exhaust gases and dust in Russian nonferrous metallurgy %


    The great majority (76%) of emissions from the production of nonferrous metals comes from the nickel-cobalt sector, the main product of which is nickel metal. The second- and the third-greatest sources are the aluminium (11%) and copper (8%) sectors, respectively. These three sectors differ in the composition of their emissions, owing to the difference in resources processed and technologies applied. The bulk of emissions from the nickel-cobalt sector are in the form of sulphur dioxide, whereas the aluminium sector produces mainly dust and carbon dioxide, and the copper sector produces sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide.

    Based on the statistics of nonferrous-metallurgical companies for 1998-2000, 85% of the total volume of harmful emissions in the sector are caused by just ten companies (Table 2). Around 68% of the total volume of emissions comes from one company alone, RAO Norilsk Nickel, the greatest producer in the Russian nonferrous-metals sector, and one of the world's largest producers of nickel, palladium and platinum, cobalt and copper. The group's structure includes Norilsk Mining Co. (NMC), located in the north of Krasnoyarsk Krai, and Kola Mining Metallurgical Co. (KMMC) in the north of the Murmansk region. The production volumes of Norilsk Nickel have increased in recent years. The effectiveness of the group's environmental management can be gauged by its specific emissions per tonne of finished product (metal). Table 3 shows that last year, emissions per tonne of metal were 3.47 t, a comparatively large amount.


Table 2: The main Russian nonferrous-metals producers ranked by environmental impact, 2000

Company	Emission to atmosphere		Share of total
	'000 t	% compared with 1999
Norilsk Mining Co.	2,145.4	98.8	61.7
Pechenganickel	160.9	100.8	4.6
Yuzhuralnickel combine	140.2	300.0	4.0
Svyatogor	71.7	99.3	2.1
Mednogorsk copper-sulphur combine	68.9	117.9	2.0
Sredneuralsk copper smelter	63.1	96.5	1.8
Achinsk Alumina combine	58.9	111.6	1.7
Severonickel	57.4	101.8	1.7
Krasnoyarsk aluminium plant	57.0	97.1	1.6
Ufaleinickel combine	55.9	102.8	1.6
Total	2,879.4	103.0	82.8

Source: company reports



Table 3: Harmful emissions by RAO Norilsk Nickel, 1998-2000

Year	Harmful emissions ('000t)			Rate of capture and utilisation of pollutants, %			Specific emission of pollutants in tonnes per tonne of metal
	Total	including:		Total	including:		Total	including:
		Dust	Sulphur dioxide		Dust	Sulphur dioxide		Dust	Sulphur dioxide
RAO Norilsk Nickel (NMC)
1998 1999 2000	2,436.28 2,386.05 2,363.69	35.46 34.22 31.82	2,342.02 2,296.27 2,275.36	36.4 37.9 39.7	97.1 97.3 97.6	8.0 8.8 9.5	4.047 3.828 3.469	0.059 0.055 0.047	3.890 3.684 3.339
Norilsk Mining Co.
1998 1999 2000	2,139.55 2,170.99 2,145.43	20.12 20.35 16.83	2,064.94 2,100.04 2,078.85	35.1 36.2 38.4	98.2 98.2 98.6	3.4 4.1 5.3	5.172 4.874 4.433	0.049 0.046 0.035	4.991 4.715 4.295
Kola Mining-Metallurgical Co.(KMMC)
1998 1999 2000	296.73 215.06 218.26	15.34 13.87 14.99	227.08 196.23 196.51	44.7 51.4 50.5	87.4 87.1 86.3	32.1 40.0 39.0	1.576 1.209 1.105	0.081 0.078 0.076	1.471 1.103 0.995
Source: RAO Norilsk Nickel

    To reduce their environmental impacts, the various enterprises in the group produce sulphuric acid and sulphur (from sulphur dioxide). This is done in spite of the fact that sulphur production is unprofitable, owing to high transport costs caused by the distances from the operations to potential markets. In 2000, the group captured around 238,700 t of sulphur dioxide (227,000 t in 1999) to produce 260,800 t sulphuric acid and 29,900 t sulphur, -1.3% and +27% year-on-year, respectively. Although the total production of contained sulphur increased by 8.5%, year-on-year, to 63,900 t in 2000, the volume of harmful emissions remains large.

    RAO Norilsk Nickel is currently undertaking extensive reconstruction of its production facilities and is introducing new technologies to increase the competitiveness of its processes. For example, NMC plans to invest around US$3 billion in reconstruction through to 2010. This programme also provides for a decrease in the environmental impact of the production. One of the reconstruction projects is to modernise the processing of copper-nickel ores by using new flotation reagents. The goal is to remove a considerable volume of sulphur-containing mineral (pyrrhotite) from the process before the roasting and smelting stage.

    In 1999, NMC began reconstruction of the facilities for the production of technical-grade sulphur (at the copper plant), which had been unprofitable, to increase sulphur output to 80,000 Vy in 2002 and to 140,000 t/y by 2005. A feasibility study is being conducted into the utilisation of 'rich' sulphur-containing exhaust gases to obtain technical-grade sulphur and sulphuric acid, with the aim of producing mineral-based fertilisers. RAO Norilsk Nickel plans to invest US$450 million through to 2005 on a programme for the utilisation of sulphur dioxide.

    Norilsk Nickel's environmental management activity is also regulated by a convention on long-range trans-border air pollution, which provides for a decrease in sulphur dioxide emissions into the atmosphere (from 1980 levels) of 30% by 1993, 38% by 2000, 40% by 2005 and 50% by 2010. KMMC, which includes the Pechen-ganickel and Severonickel combines, lying closest to Russia's border (with Norway), is fulfilling its plans with respect to decreasing the sulphur-dioxide emissions in accordance with the convention (Table 4). The greatest decrease in sulphur-dioxide emissions has been achieved by Severonickel, where smelting plant has recently been closed.

Table 4: Results of efforts to comply with the convention on long-range trans-border air pollution
Company	1980	1991	1993	1998	1999	2000
KMMC
Sulphur dioxide emissions ('0001)	590.0	453.2	364.1	277.1	196.2	196.5
% decrease sulphur dioxide emissions	-	23.2	38.3	53.0	66.7	66.7
Pechenganickel (Zapolyarny town)
Sulphur dioxide emissions ('0001)	383.0	257.5	227.4	188.7	150.4	151.2
% decrease sulphur dioxide emissions	-	32.7	40.6	50.7	60.7	60.5
Severonickel (Monchegorsk town)
Sulphur dioxide emissions ('0001)	207.0	195.7	136.7	88.4	45.8	45.3
% decrease sulphur dioxide emissions	-	5.4	33.8	57.3	77.9	78.1

    The KMMC enterprises also plan shortly to undertake a number of projects designed to decrease the environmental impact of production. Pechenganickel plans to reconstruct its roasting unit, with a shift to briquettes output, and the company's smelter and sulphuric-acid facility will also be reconstructed in accordance with a Russian-Norwegian intergovernmental agreement.

    Prominent among other nonferrous-metals producers in the list of the greatest sources of harmful emission are Joint Stock Co. (JSC) Yuzhpolimetall (Orenburg Oblast); JSC Svyatogor and JSC Sred-neuralsk copper smelters (both in the Sverdlovsky region); and Krasnoyarsk aluminium plant (Krasnoyarsk Krai).

    JSC Yuzhpolimetall, a subsidiary of JSC Yuzhuralnickel, is involved in the processing of nickel-cobalt ores and secondary resources to yield a wide range of products, including nickel, ferronickel, nickel salts and cobalt metal. A doubling of the production volume of the enterprise in 2000 was accompanied by a disproportionately high growth in harmful emissions, from 47,000 t in 1999 to 140,000 t in 2000, which demonstrates a disregard for environmental problems. A feature of these emissions is high volumes of both sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide.

    JSC Svyatogor is engaged in mining and processing copper ore, and the production of blister copper, sulphuric acid (from exhaust gases), aluminium sulphate and other products. In 2000, the company decreased its harmful emissions to the atmosphere by 0.7% year-on-year, to 71,7001, including 65,400 t of sulphur dioxide. An increase in the utilisation of sulphur dioxide to produce sulphuric acid and aluminium sulphate (output of the latter doubled in 2000) resulted in a decrease in sulphur dioxide emissions.

    JSC Sredneuralsk processes ore, smelts copper, and produces sulphuric acid, phosphate, sodium tri-polyphosphate and potassium xanthate. In 2000, the company decreased its harmful emissions to the atmosphere by 3.5% year-on-year, to 63,100 t, including 56,000 t of sulphur dioxide. In accordance with the 'Programme of Environmental Management in Sverdlovsky Oblast for 1996-99', Sredneuralsk reconstructed its sulphuric-acid production facilities resulting in a decrease in its emissions of sulphur dioxide by 100 t/y. The dust collection process in the company's smelter was also modernised, decreasing dust emissions by 30 t/y. In addition, special jackets were constructed for the converters and gas conduits, which decreased the emissions of dust and sulphur dioxide by 30 t/y and 1,970 t/y, respectively.

    JSC Krasnoyarsk aluminium plant produces aluminium metal and aluminium alloys. In 2000, the company decreased its harmful emissions to the atmosphere by 2.9% year-on-year, to 57,000 t, including carbon dioxide, dust, sulphur dioxide, hydrogen fluoride, benzpyrene and others. The decreases in emissions of dust, sulphur dioxide, hydrogen fluoride and solid fluorides were achieved by decreasing both the sulphur content of the anode mass and the consumption of resources per unit of production, as well by improving the effectiveness of the gas-purification facilities. The decreases in the emissions of carbon dioxide, benzpyrene and tar were the result of a change in part of the plant's capacity to more modern technology, including the introduction of a dry-anode process.

    The other major producers of harmful emissions listed in Table 2, Mednogorsk copper-sulphur combine, Ufaleinickel and Achinsk alumina combine, increased their emissions volumes in 2000. The main reason was increasing production volumes (in many cases after several years of setbacks in production) without any increase in their rates of exhaust-gas purification and dust-catching.

    In conclusion, the change from state to private ownership has been completed to a large extent. Generally, the larger companies have started reconstruction and modernisation of their facilities, with the introduction of modern technologies. This approach is resulting in decreasing environmental impacts from these companies. Meanwhile, the smaller companies have attempted merely to increase their production volumes, so far without significant investments in modernisation, and their total emissions have increased. However, the contribution of the larger companies to the total volume of harmful emissions remains dominant, and thus a further decrease in the environmental impact of the Russian nonferrous-metals sector should be expected in the coming years.