300 
MINERALS YEARBOOK, 1978-79 
 
tion and to increase the oxygen converter output as shown, in percentage,
in the following tabulation: 
 
 
1978 
1980 
1985 
Openhearth             
Electric                 
62 
12 
32 
14 
15 
15 
Oxygen -- 
26 
54 
70 
 
100 
100 
100 
 The main aim of capital investment in the Czechoslovakian iron and steel
industry in the 1976-80 period is to promote a more substantial change in
the structure of production and range of products. Faster growth is planned
for pipes, rolled products, alloyed and stainless steels, and specifically
for a wider assortment of pipes. 
 The pipe program provides for a major increase in production of precision.
steel cold-formed pipes and oil pipes under a protocol on cooperation between
the Gov~ ernments of Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union and involves the
corporations Poldi Kiadno, (SONR), Chomutov (VTZ), OstravaKunice (NHKG),
Podbrezova (SZ), and a few others.' 
 One of the largest capital investment projects in the Czechoslovak ferrous
industry, the new pipe plant with a cost of more than Kcsl,800 million, was
put into operation in 1979. It is a part of the Svermovy Zelezarny complex
at Podbrezova (Sbvakia).'° 
 A new continuous casting machine with a capacity of 0.2 million tons per
year was put into operation at the United Steel Works at Kiadno in 1978.
The construction of billet and blooming mills at Kladno continued in 1978
and 1979 and is expected to be the major project for 1980. When the whole
project at Kladno is completed, the complex is reportedly to be capable of
producing 1.2 million tons of steel per year.3' 
 Expansion of manufacturing facilities at the Chomutov pipe plant was underway
in 1978 and 1979, but progress of construction was hampered by delay in deliveries
of imported technological equipment." 
 Renovation and expansion of the new Klement Gottwald steel plant continued
in 1979. The new capacity of the enterprise is expected to be 4.2 million
tons of steel per year. 
 At the East Slovak Iron and Steel Complex at Kosice, the No. 2 blast furnace
was put into operation in November 1979. A reduction is expected in coke
consumption of 45 kilograms per ton of pig iron produc 
 
tion. The complex accounts for one-third of the country's production of pig
iron. Construction of the new No. 5, 25-ton electric furnace started in the
metallurgical section of the Skoda enterprise in 1979, and replacement of
an old open-hearth furnace by a new one is planned for 1980. 
 Lead and Zinc.—In 1978-79 lead-zinc ore continued to be mined
at Pribram
and Kutna Hora (Central Bohemia), Horni Beneso (Moravia), and Banska Stiavnica
(Central Sbovakia). About 70% of the total lead-zinc ore came from Czech
deposits and some 30% from Slovakia deposits. 
 Production of lead and zinc is far below demand, and they continued to be
imported mainly from Yugoslavia and the U.S.S.R. A substantial increase in
lead-zinc production is expected after 1985. New investments are planned
for Zlate Hory to develop deeper levels of the copper-lead-zinc ore and at
the Horni Benesov deposits." 
 Mercury.—Mercury was extracted from deposits at Rudnany (Slovakia).
Over the 10 years of its existence, the mercury plant at Zeleznorudnedoly
Rudnany produced 1.86 million kilograms of technically pure mercury. Czechoslovakia
began to process the concentrate in 1969, and the country's economy became
independent of mercury imports.'4 
 Silver.—The rich deposits of silver have been largely depleted.
The
remaining deposits of Jihlava, Kutna Hora, Stribro, and Jachymov in Bohemia,
and of Kremnica and Banska Stiavnica in Slovakia, are of little economic
significance. The largest share of Czechoslovakia's total silver prodüction
is recovered as a byproduct from processing of polymetallic ores. 
 In 1978-79, domestic mines contributed a small percent of the silver used
in the country. The further development of silver production in Czechoslovakia
is to be concentrated on polymetallic ores and on the metallic Jochimov formations
containing proustite (Ag,AsS,—silver arsenic sulfide). 
 Production of bismuth, cobalt, and nickel from Jochimov polymetallic ores
could make production of silver mining economical. 
 The Svornost and Kovnost mines (Jochimov area) are the main potential producers
of silver for the future. Silver minerals are known also in some polymetallic
veins in the Pribram area (Vzancice, Radetice, and nearby), but their importance
is small and the economy of production is highly problematical."