"We directly turn the middle and tailings into finished products, achieving turning waste into treasure." When discussing his proudest research, Zong Hongxing, chief researcher of the Jinchuan Nickel-Cobalt Research and Design Institute and director of the Metallurgy and Environmental Engineering Research Institute, first thought of the "Industrial Application Research on Comprehensive Utilization of Copper Smelting Kaldo Furnace Slag."
This research has processed a total of 700 tons of Kaldo furnace slag, producing 403 tons of copper-nickel alloy products and generating sales revenue of 31 million yuan ($4.31 million).
Zong Hongxing, chief researcher of the Jinchuan Nickel-Cobalt Research and Design Institute and director of the Metallurgy and Environmental Engineering Research Institute
Zong is a senior metallurgical engineer at Jinchuan Group. In recent years, he has successively presided over and completed over 10 major scientific research projects for the group, and has developed a complete set of technologies and equipment for processing Kaldo furnace slag.
In the past three years, Zong has obtained 7 invention patents and 24 utility model patents.
"My inspiration mainly relies on long-term accumulation in the front line of production," Zong said. Since graduating, he has been responsible for production technology development on the front line. He often encounters various problems, and being someone who enjoys delving into things, he conducts technical improvements and process optimizations in the production workshop every year.
Zong Hongxing (left) at the production site
With the support of Jinchuan Group, Zong and his team have conducted research and constructed a pyrometallurgical complex furnace with independent intellectual property rights, filling the gap in the group's lack of a pyrometallurgical pilot plants in the field of scientific research. This achievement has been involved in external technical service projects, such as the harmless treatment of by-products at Ramu Nico Management (MCC) Limited and the efficiency improvement of Zhangye's Hongxin manganese iron mine, receiving high recognition from the clients.
