Firering Holdings is developing its quicklime production business in Zambia through the Limeco Project, targeting industrial markets that include steel manufacturing, mining and water treatment.
Quicklime, also known as calcium oxide, is used in steelmaking to remove impurities and improve the quality of molten metal. It is added during refining to help form slag, which captures unwanted materials such as silica, phosphorus and sulphur before being separated from the steel.
The material is used in both basic oxygen furnaces and electric arc furnaces, as well as during secondary refining. Its role in controlling slag chemistry can support steel quality, furnace efficiency and the protection of refractory linings. These applications make quicklime an established industrial input for steel producers.
Demand is also supported by applications in non-ferrous metal processing. Quicklime is used in copper processing and other metallurgical operations to help control acidity, manage impurities and support metal recovery. This provides potential demand from mining and mineral-processing businesses alongside the steel sector.
Firering’s Limeco Project in Zambia is intended to supply quicklime to industrial customers. The company’s processing facilities include eight kilns designed to produce between 600 and 800 tonnes of quicklime per day. The plant also has a limestone crushing circuit with an installed capacity of 300 tonnes per hour.
Quicklime is produced by heating crushed limestone to approximately 1,100°C, a process that releases carbon dioxide and leaves calcium oxide. The resulting material is then crushed and sized for its intended industrial application. Consistent product quality is important because purity, reactivity and particle size can affect performance during steelmaking and mineral processing.
Firering Strategic Minerals plc (LON:FRG) is an emerging quicklime producer and critical minerals explorer, with operations in Zambia and West Africa.
