Jongju Refinery, a major base of production in North Korea for nonferrous metals, is reportedly experiencing production difficulties due to raw material shortages.
A source in North Pyongan Province told Daily NK on Tuesday that the Jongju plant was receiving no concentrates, sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, sodium hydroxide or other chemicals. Because of this, production at the plant had virtually ceased.
Jongju Refinery produces mostly copper, gold and silver, being located near gold and silver mines in North and South Pyongan provinces and Chagang Province.
Concentrate is required to produce these metals. Concentrate is a higher quality mineral produced by “mineral dressing” that physically and chemically removes worthless “gangue minerals” from the desired mineral.
Production of concentrate is apparently running into trouble as power shortages prevent proper mineral dressing.
The source said the refinery has been receiving insufficient power for operations as of late. He said equipment needed for the dressing and electrolysis of copper ore has not been fully operational due to power shortages, and that the facility cannot refine anything as a result.
Jongju Refinery has been experiencing power shortages since late last year. The problem has been around for several months, but it has yet to be resolved. In fact, it is growing worse.
Daily NK reported in November of last year that China has been buying most of the power produced at North Korea’s Supung Dam to overcome its own power shortages due to imported coal shortfalls. This has had an adverse effect on not only North Korean residents, but on production at enterprises as well.
At the time, many defense industry factories, including Jongju Refinery, began taking turns operating due to the power shortages.
Several months later, however, the power shortages have apparently gotten so bad that the plants cannot operate even in shifts.
The source said Jongju Refinery also lacks chemicals needed for wet smelting such as sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, and sodium hydroxide.
Refineries typically use wet smelting when mineral dressing is impossible, or they are refining low-quality ore. If you have enough chemicals, you can refine low-quality ore that cannot be refined through dressing. However, shortages of raw materials are apparently rendering even this impossible.
The source said Jongju Refinery contributes a great deal to the ruling communist party’s foreign currency exports by refining copper and gold. He said if even a place like this was experiencing shortages of raw materials and power, other facilities must also be experiencing serious production problems.
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