Três Marias
Smelter
Zinc
Principal Refined Products
Metallic zinc and zinc oxide
Plant Capacity
192.2 ktpy
Ownership
100%
Location
Brazil
The Três Marias smelter is located in the municipality of Três Marias in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, wholly owned by Nexa Brazil, 250 km from the Morro Agudo mine and 253 km from the Vazante mine and is accessible by road.
Our Três Marias smelter, which is wholly owned by Nexa Brazil, is located in Brazil and began operating in 1969. Três Marias processes zinc silicate concentrate from our Vazante mine and zinc sulfide concentrate from our Morro Agudo mine and uses Roast-Leach-Electrowinning technology. With a nominal production capacity of 192.2 thousand tonnes of refined metal per year, Três Marias produced 189.9 thousand tonnes of zinc metal and oxide in 2022 and 198.4 thousand tonnes in 2021. In 2022, 77.8% of the zinc contained in raw materials used by Três Marias was sourced from our mining operations in Brazil and Peru and 22.2% was purchased from third parties or obtained from secondary feed materials.
| 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Production | kt | 189.9 | 198.4 | 202.8 |
| Zinc Recovery | % | 91.6 | 94.7 | 94.8 |
| Metallic zinc Sales | kt | 151.8 | 163.7 | 169.2 |
| Zinc oxide Sales | kt | 40.3 | 40.9 | 34.7 |
| Conversion cost | US$/lb | 0.19 | 0.12 | 0.15 |
| Cash Cost, net of by-product credits | US$/t | 3,116.0 | 2,455.4 | 1,610.4 |
| Cash Cost, net of by-product credits | US$/lb | 1.41 | 1.11 | 0.73 |
| CAPEX | US$ mm | 42.1 | 17.7 | 18.1 |