HZL Board Approves Rs. 3,823 Cr. Investment for Zinc Tailings Reprocessing Plant
Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL), India’s largest Zinc producer, will be setting up a Zinc tailings reprocessing plant at Rampura Agucha in the Bhilwara district of Rajasthan. For this purpose, HZL’s board has approved investment of upto Rs. 3,823 crore.
Tailings are finely ground byproducts generated during ore processing, and are generally discarded as waste during metal extraction.
India’s First Zinc Tailings Reprocessing Facility
HZL, in its stock filing dated 18th August 2025, stated that this upcoming 10 MMTPA plant will be India’s first Zinc tailings reprocessing facility. This plant is expected to be completed over a period of 28 months from its zero date.
Mr. Arun Misra, CEO of HZL shared that this facility will be developed with the help of global experts. “This facility enables us to reprocess historical waste and store it responsibly, in line with high environmental standards”, he said.
Tailings from Rampura Agucha to be Reprocessed
Through this plant, HZL seeks to utilise reserves at its Rampura Agucha mine more efficiently. As per HZL, the Rampura Agucha mine has the world’s largest underground Zinc mining operations, and it produces about 4.8 Million Metric Tonne Per Annum (MMTPA) of Zinc ore.
As per research studies, depending on the method of ore processing, 0.26 tonne to 2.5 tonne of Zinc tailings are produced for each tonne of Lead-Zinc ore processed. Therefore, HZL’s plan to reprocess Zinc tailings at Rampura Agucha holds great potential to boost the company’s mining output.
Part of HZL’s 2030 2x Growth Strategy
Aforementioned Zinc tailings reprocessing plant is a part of HZL’s strategy to double its total metal production to 2 MMTPA by 2030. This plan entails investment of Rs. 32,000 crore to Rs. 35,000 crore over the next 5 years in phases. A key component of this strategy is to increase ore production from HZL’s mines to 31 million tonne (MT) from the current 19.3 MT.
Mr. Misra added, “[HZL’s tailings reprocessing plant] strengthens our unique value proposition and supports our ambitious 2x growth vision while advancing our broader sustainability commitments”. Therefore, HZL’s plan to reprocess Zinc tailings aligns with the company’s goal to optimise ore production.
About Hindustan Zinc Ltd.: Hindustan Zinc Limited, a subsidiary of Vedanta Group, is a leading producer of Zinc, Lead and Silver in India. Based in Udaipur, the company operates major mining and smelting plants in Rajasthan and Uttarakhand. Hindustan Zinc reported a revenue of Rs. 34,083 crore crore and consolidated Profit After Tax (PAT) of Rs. 10,353 crore during FY-25.
