- Jean-Jacques Dony
Jean-Jacques Dony (
24 February 1759 - 1819) was aninventor andindustrialist , who was born in Liège,Belgium .<--part of Belgium at present-->He invented a procedure for the industrial production of totally pure
zinc . In 1806,Napoleon granted him amonopoly for the exploitation of the zinc mines ofMoresnet , now in the Province of Liège inBelgium . These mines continued operating until the end of the 19th century.From the exploitation of the Moresnet mines rose the 'Vieille Montagne Association' (French for Old Mountain), which later expanded its operations abroad (to
France ,Germany andSweden (Zinkgruvan) among others). The activities of the association of the Old Mountain were taken over in 1989 by the Union Minière (Mining Union) group, which is known since 2001 asUmicore .Dony died in poverty in 1819.
External links
* [http://www.umicore.com/en/ Umicore]
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