In this study the thermal calcination of two materials, high purity zinc carbonate hydroxide and the Calsimin zinc carbonate concentrate have been investigated. Isothermal studies have been performed on samples at different temperatures and times. Non-isothermal analysis has been carried out by TGA and DSC. It has been found that the calcination behaviour of both materials corresponds to the shrinking core model. The activation energy for the calcination of zinc carbonate hydroxide is found to be 88.7kJ/mol, and that for the Calsimin sample is 97.3 kJ/mol. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.