Harz-Metall

Harz-Metall GmbH (HMG) was a German metallurgical company based in the Oker district of Goslar, Lower Saxony. It was the legal successor to all the discontinued Harz smelting works of the former Preussag AG, and its roots reach back to a lead and copper smelter founded in 1527 near the present-day village of Oker. Over the centuries the works passed through state and princely ownership, and in the twentieth century they were consolidated under Preussag. On 1 January 1986 the Hüttenwerk Harz, including all properties of the former smelting sites in the Harz, was transferred into an independent limited company named Harz-Metall, with Dr. Kunibert Hanusch as its first managing director. In October 1988 Preussag AG Metall contributed its smelting activities to Metaleurop S.A., a company founded together with the French mining group Penarroya and headquartered in Paris. Harz-Metall thereby became a wholly owned subsidiary of Metaleurop S.A. via Metaleurop Deutschland GmbH, Hanover. Metaleurop was renamed the Recylex Group in 2007. Harz-Metall operated a rotary kiln using the Waelz process to produce an enriched zinc- and lead-oxide-bearing dust from secondary zinc raw materials, which served zinc smelters as a feedstock for recovering metallic zinc. It also ran a crushing plant that recovered an oxidic and a metallic lead concentrate as well as polypropylene from old starter and emergency batteries (lead-acid batteries); the lead recyclate was delivered to the group's own lead smelter in Nordenham. For processing the polypropylene fraction, HMG founded the subsidiary C2P Germany GmbH, whose grinding and extrusion plant produced a PP regranulate for the plastics industry from 2002. Beyond commercial production, Harz-Metall was responsible for the numerous contaminated sites from almost 500 years of metal smelting in the Harz, including securing and remediation work on the extensive slag heap site in Oker. The company drew headlines in January 2019 over sharply elevated dioxin emissions. According to a report by the BUND regional association Westharz in the Goslarschen Zeitung, measured values at the company's rotary kiln in August 2017 exceeded the statutory dioxin limit by a factor of 18. The company attributed the exceedance to filter pipes clogged by sulfurous petroleum coke and promised proposals to comply with limits and greater transparency. On 14 May 2020 the parent group Recylex announced in a press release that Harz-Metall had entered Schutzschirmverfahren (protective shield proceedings) under insolvency law as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Harz-Metall GmbH ceased to exist as an independent company on 1 August 2020. On 1 October 2020, Industriepark und Verwertungszentrum Harz GmbH took over the properties of the dissolved company.

The origins of Harz-Metall lie in the lead and copper smelting works Frau-Marien-(Saiger-)Hütte, built in 1527 by Duke Henry the Younger of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel at the outlet of the Oker valley near the present-day village of Oker in Lower Saxony. In 1635 the Lower Harz smelting and mining properties fell to a Guelphic community of heirs known as the Communion. In 1874 direct state management ended and the Communion-Hüttenamt was established in Oker. The owners were 4/7 the Prussian state (after the annexation of the Kingdom of Hanover in 1866) and 3/7 the Duchy of Brunswick. In 1909 the Zinkoxydhütte Oker was built in the immediate vicinity of the lead smelter as a further operation. After the formation of Preussag AG in 1923 as a group for Prussian mining holdings, the Unterharzer Berg- und Hüttenwerke GmbH was founded on 30 December 1924 as the operating company. In 1936 the Zinkhütte Harlingerode was added as another works. In 1968 Preussag bought the shares of the former Duchy of Brunswick, which were by then held by Niedersachsen GmbH. The three independent smelters in Oker and Harlingerode were thus combined organizationally into one unit operated as Hüttenwerk Harz. The metals division of Preussag AG, headquartered in Goslar, formed the administration. On 1 January 1986 the Hüttenwerk Harz, including all properties of the former smelting sites in the Harz, was transferred into an independent limited company under the name Harz-Metall. Dr. Kunibert Hanusch became its first managing director. In October 1988 Preussag AG Metall contributed its smelting activities to Metaleurop S.A., founded together with the French mining group Penarroya and headquartered in Paris. Harz-Metall became a wholly owned subsidiary of Metaleurop S.A. through Metaleurop Deutschland GmbH, Hanover. Metaleurop was renamed the Recylex Group in 2007. In production, the company operated a rotary kiln using the Waelz process to produce an enriched zinc- and lead-oxide-bearing dust from secondary zinc raw materials, which served zinc smelters as a feedstock for recovering metallic zinc. It also had a crushing plant that recovered an oxidic and a metallic lead concentrate as well as polypropylene from old starter and emergency batteries (lead-acid batteries); the lead recyclate was delivered to the group's own lead smelter in Nordenham. For processing the polypropylene fraction, HMG founded the subsidiary C2P Germany GmbH, whose grinding and extrusion plant produced a PP regranulate for the plastics industry from 2002. In addition to commercial production, Harz-Metall was responsible for the numerous contaminated sites from almost 500 years of metal smelting in the Harz. Core projects in its final years were securing and remediation work on the extensive slag heap site in Oker, which was a focus of local environmental associations. Unneeded plants and buildings on the smelter site were demolished and disposed of. It was intended to market remediated plots for reuse, but this was only incompletely achieved during the company's existence. The company drew headlines in January 2019 over sharply elevated dioxin emissions. According to a report by the BUND regional association Westharz in the Goslarschen Zeitung, measured values at the company's rotary kiln in August 2017 exceeded the statutory dioxin limit by a factor of 18. The exceedance was found during a file inspection at the Braunschweig trade supervisory authority. The company cited filter pipes clogged by sulfurous petroleum coke as the cause; following the report, the company promised to develop proposals for complying with limits and to increase transparency. On 14 May 2020 the parent group Recylex announced in a press release that Harz-Metall had entered Schutzschirmverfahren (protective shield proceedings) under insolvency law as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Harz-Metall GmbH ceased to exist as an independent company on 1 August 2020. On 1 October 2020, Industriepark und Verwertungszentrum Harz GmbH took over the properties of the dissolved company.

• 2020

  On 14 May Recylex announced Schutzschirmverfahren; on 1 August Harz-Metall GmbH ceased to exist; on 1 October Industriepark und Verwertungszentrum Harz GmbH took over the properties.

• 2019

  In January the company drew headlines over dioxin emissions exceeding the statutory limit by a factor of 18 in August 2017.

• 2007

  Metaleurop was renamed the Recylex Group.

• 2002

  C2P Germany GmbH began producing PP regranulate for the plastics industry.

• 1988

  In October Preussag AG Metall contributed its smelting activities to Metaleurop S.A.; Harz-Metall became a wholly owned subsidiary.

• 1986

  On 1 January the Hüttenwerk Harz was transferred into the independent GmbH Harz-Metall; Dr. Kunibert Hanusch became first managing director.

• 1968

  Preussag bought the shares of the former Duchy of Brunswick; the three smelters were combined as Hüttenwerk Harz.

• 1936

  The Zinkhütte Harlingerode was added as another works.

• 1924

  Unterharzer Berg- und Hüttenwerke GmbH was founded on 30 December as the operating company.

• 1923

  Preussag AG was formed as a group for Prussian mining holdings.

• 1909

  The Zinkoxydhütte Oker was built next to the lead smelter.

• 1874

  Direct state management ended; the Communion-Hüttenamt was established in Oker.

• 1635

  The Lower Harz smelting and mining properties fell to the Guelphic Communion community of heirs.

• 1527

  Duke Henry the Younger of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel built the Frau-Marien-(Saiger-)Hütte lead and copper smelter near present-day Oker.

Successor operator of the historic Harz smelting works, focused on secondary metallurgy, battery recycling and legacy site remediation.

• Zinc- and lead-oxide-bearing dust (Waelz process)

  Enriched dust produced from secondary zinc raw materials in a rotary kiln, used by zinc smelters as feedstock for metallic zinc.

• Oxidic lead concentrate

  Recovered from old starter and emergency lead-acid batteries in the crushing plant.

• Metallic lead concentrate

  Recovered from old starter and emergency lead-acid batteries; delivered to the group's lead smelter in Nordenham.

• Polypropylene regranulate (PP regranulate)

  Produced by subsidiary C2P Germany GmbH from 2002 for the plastics industry.

• Dioxin emission exceedance

Read more

• Transfer into independent GmbH Harz-MetallOther

• Contribution to Metaleurop S.A.Other

• Schutzschirmverfahren announcedOther

1. 1Harz-Metall – Wikidatawikidata.org
2. 2Harz-Metall – Wikipedia (German)de.wikipedia.org
3. 3Harz-Metall official websiteharz-metall.de