The first commercial primary-lead ISASMELT furnace was installed at the Yunnan Chihong Zinc and Germanium Company Limited (YCZG) greenfield zinc and lead smelting complex at Qujing in Yunnan Province in China. This furnace was part of a plant consisting of the ISASMELT furnace and a blast furnace specially designed to treat high-lead ISASMELT slag. The ISASMELT furnace was designed to produce both the slag and lead bullion, with about 40% of the lead in the concentrate being converted to lead bullion in the ISASMELT furnace.
The ISASMELT–blast furnace combination was designed to treat 160,000 t/y of lead concentrate.
The second commercial primary-lead ISASMELT furnace was commissioned at Kazzinc's smelting complex at Ust-Kamenogorsk in Kazakhstan in 2012. It is designed to treat 300,000 t/y of lead concentrate, again using an ISASMELT–blast furnace combination.
YCZG is constructing another lead ISASMELT at a new greenfield smelter in Huize in China, and this is due to be commissioned in 2013.
In June 2017, Glencore announced that Nyrstar NV had acquired an Isasmelt licence for its new Ausmelt furnace in Port Pirie. As part of the agreement, Nyrstar engaged training and ramp-up support services for the Ausmelt furnace and blast furnace by personnel from Glencore's Kazzinc operations in Kazakhstan. This involved training Nyrstar personnel at Ust-Kamenogorsk operations and site support by Kazzinc personnel during the commissioning and ramp-up stages of the Ausmelt plant.