Estano, xi and tin 43 years (and counting) of TSL smelting

Top Submerged Lance (TSL) technology was invented in the early 1970's at CSIRO in Clayton, by a team led by Dr John Floyd. It was initially developed for reduction of tin reverberatory furnace slags and the first commercial furnace at Associated Tin Smelters in Sydney was installed for this purpose in 1978. This plant was also used to develop tin concentrate smelting at commercial scale before closing due to the collapse of the tin price in the late 1980's. The technology was then adapted and used in a wide variety of non-ferrous applications but has still managed to maintain contact with its origins in tin. To date some 65 commercial TSL plants have been built by Outotec/Ausmelt, which excludes the Isasmelt contribution to TSL plants. In 1989 HMIB constructed and operated a small TSL tin smelter in Arnhem, Holland. This plant had a relatively short lifespan as local regulations forced the closure of the complex which included a lead smelter. Funsur constructed a greenfield TSL tin concentrate smelter in 1996 in Peru which was followed by YTCL in China in 2000. Following a lull of a few years, China Tin commissioned a TSL tin smelter in 2013 which will be followed by Vinto, Bolivia in 2014.