ZINC in our history

an age-old relationship

Long before being identified as an element, Zinc was

used for making brass and for medicinal purposes.
Metallic zinc and zinc oxide were produced in India
sometime between the 11th and 14th centuries and in
China in the 17th century. Andreas Marggraf, a
German chemist is credited with the discovery of pure
metallic zinc who isolated the element in 1746.

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ZINC in India
reference in vedic era

The importance of zinc has been known to

India since ancient times. Standard
textbooks of Ayurveda, written by rishis of
Vedic era recommend Jasada bhasma a
zinc based preparation, as the treatment of
choice for diabetes. Modern medicine also
recognizes the curative properties of zinc.

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 We all have ZINC in our lives...
8th known metal to mankind
4th most consumed metal

Zinc Deficiency, a Global Concern

Zinc, besides its major usage in

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galvanizing and as alloys like brass, as
insect repellent, in paints, rubber,
cosmetics, plastics, inks, soaps,
batteries, textiles, electrical equipments
BILLION MILLION to name a few.
People worldwide who Children who die each
dont get enough zinc year from diarrhoea Zinc has numerous health benefits and
is essential for immune system, for
preventing lower-respiratory infections,
treating acne, as a protein, improving
eyesight, healing wounds, for sense of
taste & smell, in sunscreen and
pharmaceuticals.

800,000 450,000 Zinc occurs naturally throughout the

earth in plants and animals and the food
People at risk of Children at risk of we eat. Every cell requires zinc to
dying each year dying every year due multiply, which is why zinc is used to
from zinc deficiency to zinc deficiency reduce infant mortality and for fortifying
fertilizers in agriculture to improve crop
yields.

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 HISTORY says it all
There is recorded evidence showing that even before zinc was officially recognized as an individual element, people knew of
brass, which is made by mixing copper and zinc. Some records show the presence of brass in West Asia prior to 1,000 BC.
According to the International Zinc Association, evidence of the use of copper and zinc has been found in Roman times,
during Augustus Caesars reign, around 20 BC.

The traces of mining and smelting of zinc in India date back to about 2,500 years at Zawar, about 45 km from the city of
lakes, Udaipur in Rajasthan. Historical records present that zinc was mostly used to make brass at that time while zinc
oxide was an important ingredient in medicines.

It is understood that in the 13th century, Marco Polo the Italian merchant traveller, talked about the manufacture of zinc oxide
in Persia.

Fathi Habashi, Professor of Extractive Metallurgy at the Department of Mining and Metallurgy, University Laval, Canada, in
his research mentions about scrolls of papyrus as well as ancient pages describing zinc and the processes of extracting
and its uses. A 13th century thesis on metallurgy Rasaratna Samuchchaya, describes the production process of metallic
zinc, which was written around 1,200 AD. This book describes how the new tin-like metal was made by indirectly heating
calamine with organic matter in a covered crucible fitted with a condenser. The Professor suggests that the Hindu civilisation
had recognized zinc as a new metal, the 8th known to man at that time.

From India, zinc made its journey to China, though China was late
in recognising the uses of zinc metal. Zinc travelled further and
entered Europe through Arab and Portuguese traders.

During 17th-18th century, Europes first zinc smelter was

established in the United Kingdom, using vertical retorts. Traces of
this technology have been found in the Zawar area near Udaipur.

It is also interesting to know that the idea of cathodic protection

against corrosion was first proposed in London by Sir Humphry
Davy (1778-1829), a British chemist best known for his
experiments in electro-chemistry and invention of a miner's safety
2,500 years old zinc smelting retorts at Zawar lamp.

According to researchers and scholars, in the 17th and 18th

centuries, Germans called zinc metal as Caunterfeitum or mock-
silver because of its silvery white lustre. In Europe, where the use
of tin was well-known, zinc was also regarded as low-cost option
to tin.

US penny uses 98% zinc coated with copper
In the early 20th century, zinc smelting technology took great leap
when the electrolytic process was introduced in 1916 as a
replacement of the old pyrometallurgical process, making it the
de-facto global standard till the Imperial method or the modern
Pyro process made a comeback. Today, hydrometallurgical, a
further latest technology is most prevalent. Hindustan Zinc uses
both hydrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical processes.

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 ...ZINC is all around us

Zinc in our HEALTH

an essential trace element
It may come as a surprise to many, but we need zinc even
before we are born. Zinc is beneficial to our body as it :
Regulates the immune function
Treats diarrhoea
Improves learning and memory
Helps treat the common cold
Heals wounds
Ensures proper growth
Prevents age-related macular degeneration (AMD)
Improves fertility
Helps in dental and skin care

Zinc in GALVANISING
a boon for steel industry
Zinc corrodes preferentially to give cathodic protection to iron
when both are exposed to water or humidity. Not only that, if a
zinc coating gets damaged, the bare area will still be protected
by the zinc surrounding it thus facilitating a unique steel
corrosion protection system. More than 50% of the zinc
produced is used for galvanising steel used by industries for
making automobiles, aviation, shipping, construction and more.

Zinc in AGRICULTURE
a requisite nutrient for crops
Zinc is an important component of various enzymes that are
responsible for driving many metabolic reactions in all crops.
Growth and development of plants would stop if specific
enzymes were not present in plant tissue.

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 ...ZINC is all around us

Zinc in RUBBER
a life extending additive
Since its inception, rubber industry has been using Zinc Oxide,
due to its optical, physical and chemical properties. Our
automobile tyres, for heavy pneumatic duty and durability,
require high loading of zinc oxide for high heat conductivity as
well as reinforcement.

Zinc in COSMETICS
a skin friendly chemical
Zinc Oxide is used in a wide range of
cosmetics and personal care products
including makeup, nail products, baby
lotions, bath soaps and foot powders. It
works as a sunscreen agent by reflecting
UV radiation. Sunscreen products reduce
sunburn and premature aging of the skin.
Preventing sunburn is an important factor
in reducing the risk of getting skin cancer.

Zinc in ENVIRONMENT
a sustainable material
Zinc is the 23rd most abundant element on earth. Zincs ability to
self-heal allows for a long life span. Its unique patination process,
which occurs naturally over time, protects the zincs surface thus
reducing maintenance efforts. The amount of energy required to
produce zinc strip is significantly less than that of other metals. It
can be recycled again and again without suffering any degradation.

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 Galvanisation of rail
tracks will ensure longer
life, safety By Kunal Bose, an eminent columnist
India's rail tracks, spanning 115,000
km, happen to be the world's third
largest. The country has built capacity
to meet full demand for rails of
the Indian Railways and thanks
largely to manufacturers like Bhilai
Steel Plant which makes and plans to
double its length.
Every railway minister, including
Suresh Prabhu, promises
comprehensive modernisation of the
network, which has an annual freight
carrying capacity of one billion MT
and daily passenger carrying capacity
of 21 million. What, however, continues
to escape the attention of mandarins in
Rail Bhavan is the need to lay only
galvanised rail tracks to ensure
long life and safety. It is long
known that corrosion of old cars,
collapsing structures and rail
tracks causes losses equivalent to
four per cent of GDP. Even while
this calls for the urgent attention of the
government, we have allowed the
malaise to continue and suffer big
losses.
The International Zinc Association
(IZA) has done well to write to Prabhu
saying galvanising of railway tracks
would not only be a significant
initiative towards safety, but would
make tracks last much longer.
Elaborating the longevity, he says,
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At present, the use
of galvanized steel
in automobile body
in India is only
around 7% while
around 80% of cars
manufactured for
exports have
galvanized sheet
body.
The Automotive Corrosion Trends:Car Survey Results
Prof. A.S. Khanna, IIT Mumbai
The economic cost due to corrosion of
rails is significant. Rails have a life of
800 gross million MT, which works out
to 12-13 years under Indian traffic
conditions. Corrosion, however,
reduces its life to nearly half the
expected life.
The shorter life of rail resulting from
absence of galvanising increases track
maintenance workload. More
disturbingly, corrosion increases the
pace of rail replacement and interferes
with normal railway movement
causing inconvenience to passengers
and freight movers and revenue losses
to the organisation. Frequent
replacement is one reason why the
operating ratio of the railways falls
short of its target. The importance of
galvanising rail becomes apparent as
the country aims at lifting the average
speed of trains from 70 km to a level
that will cut journey time by at least
20 per cent and raise daily passenger
movement capacity to 30 million and
annual freight transportation capacity The survey reveals a good correlation between the
to 1.5 billion MT. imperfections in automotive body and the age of the
The government has decided to fast- vehicle. Body parts close to the road are most prone
track the 508 km Mumbai- to imperfections such as blisters and surface rust.
Ahmedabad bullet train corridor laying The survey reasonably establishes that the
corrosion-free galvanised tracks using conversion of car body panels manufactured in India
Japanese technology and funding the from painted cold rolled steel to painted galvanized
estimated project cost of Rs 70,000 steel will significantly improve the corrosion
Crore. performance as was the case in North America.