Is the dust settling? Jinjiang’s thallium pollution is mainly caused by the secondary leader company Yongxing Materials, which may resume production next week at the latest.

(Original title: Has the dust settled? Jinjiang thallium pollution is mainly caused by the main secondary company Yongxing Materials or will resume production next week at the latest)

Financial Associated Press News, December 8 (Reporter Li Zijian)Unlike some media stating that abnormal water quality was caused by excessive Ta (tantalum) element, Yichun City’s latest announcement showed that Jinjiang River water quality was caused by abnormal concentration of thallium (Tl). Yongxing Materials, which has caused anxiety in the capital market over the shutdown, was listed in the announcement on suspicion of evading supervision and dumping pollutants. According to sources close to the local government, Yongxing Materials (002756.SZ) has basically completed the rectification and is expected to resume production next week at the latest.

Thallium pollution comes mainly from secondary lead enterprises

The Yichun Municipal People’s Government issued a notice on the evening of December 6, showing that the Yichun City Ecological Environment Monitoring Department found abnormal concentrations of thallium in the initial monitoring and analysis of all source indicators of drinking water in the main stream of Jinjiang River. After continuous monitoring, the data shows that the thallium concentration in the water quality of the water source has stably reached the standard.

At present, the on-site disposal work has been completed. The main source of pollution in this accident was initially found to come from Jiangxi Qijin Materials Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Qijin Materials”). During the investigation, it was also found that Jiangxi Qijin Materials Co., Ltd. and Jiangxi Yongxing Special Steel New Energy Technology Company (hereinafter referred to as “Yongxing New Energy”) were suspected of discharging pollutants by circumventing supervision.

At present, the public security department has joined forces with the ecological environment department to investigate the above two companies, and the case is still being investigated. In Yongxing Materials’ previous announcement, the lithium carbonate smelting production line of wholly owned subsidiary Yongxing New Energy has to temporarily stop production due to environmental protection investigations.

A Financial Associated Press reporter learned from multiple newspapers that thallium (Tl) is a colorless, odorless and highly toxic heavy metal with a lethal dose of about 12mg/kg for adults, but its content is rare in nature. Those of greatest industrial value are galena, lead-zinc polymetallic ore, feldspar ore, lepidolite, and high-thallium pyrite.

The prospectus of environmental protection company Sainz revealed that in industrial activities, thallium-containing materials are recycled, and thallium has been enriched and accumulated, and thallium pollution accidents will occur if enterprise management is not careful. In recent years, there was a thallium pollution incident in 2018 that also occurred in Jiangxi Province. An enterprise in Jiangxi Province discharged wastewater containing excess thallium, causing thallium pollution in Xinlongjiang, a tributary of the Lujiang River in Liling, Hunan.

In fact, thallium pollution has been assessed by the state. In November 2021, the “Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Thorough Pollution Prevention and Control” clearly stated that the investigation and the rectification of thallium-related enterprises will be carried out.

At the same time, Jiangxi Province has built the “Provincial Eco-Environmental Emergency Investigation Center Carrying Out Assistance and Guidance for the Investigation and Rectification of Enterprises Involved in Thallium”, and has carried out assistance and on-site guidance for the investigation and rectification of thallium-related enterprises in 11 districts and cities of the province.

The Qijin materials involved in this accident also received 20 million yuan of investment funds from the central budget of the Yichun City Pollution Control, Energy Saving and Carbon Reduction Special Project (Direction of Energy Saving and Energy Saving). carbon reduction), which was used to sustain materials Jiangxi Qijin Co., Ltd. has an annual output of 21 10,000 tons of secondary lead and supports production line projects.

Yongxing Materials may resume production next week at the latest

It has not been disclosed why the Qi Jin material, which has been compensated by the government for pollution control, still becomes the source of Jinjiang water quality pollution. Yongxing New Energy, a lithium salt plant in the same industrial park, was informed in this investigation that it was suspected of discharging pollutants by circumventing supervision.

According to public information, both lithium carbonate and recycled lead processes have roasting bond, and the flue gas contains thallium, which is absorbed and enriched in the wastewater. According to the general process, the sewage is collected by the factory sewage treatment station to deposit the harmful substances, and then sent to the sewage treatment plant in Yifeng County Industrial Park. After being treated by the sewage treatment plant of the park, are discharged into the Yexi River, a tributary of the Jinjiang River.

It is worth noting that Yongxing New Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of Yongxing Materials, has not been clearly indicated in the circular as a source of pollution. According to Yongxing Materials’ previous 20,000-ton battery-grade lithium carbonate project with a fixed increase, the ex-factory concentration of the pollutant thallium in the production wastewater is 0.002mg/L, which is lower than the acquisition standard of 0.005 mg/l.

Image source: Screenshots from Yongxing’s material announcement

Capitalists who have been to Yongxing New Energy for research told Financial Associated Press reporters that mining for raw ore will not cause thallium pollution, mainly because lithium carbonate will enter the flue gas after smelting and production back-end, and then it will be enriched in wastewater. Extraction of lithium from lithium slag is a major concern, but Yongxing Materials never sells lithium slag or extracts lithium from lithium slag. It may be that the accumulation of dust in the warehouse caused the thallium standard to exceed.

Another person close to the local government said that the local department has sent experts to the Yongxing New Energy site to guide the work, and the rectification has basically been completed. In the following period, all sewage outlets will be equipped with thallium concentration monitoring equipment and will be incorporated into the online monitoring scope of relevant departments. According to reports, Yongxing Materials will resume work and production next week at the latest.

(edited by: Cao Jingchen)