On NSE, the stock was frozen at Rs 17.15 with a volume of over 12 lakh shares. The counter has also seen a spurt in volumes with close to 3 lakh shares traded on the BSE on Thursday, while 2.4 lakh shares exchanged hands on Friday.

The international price of zinc has been on the rise along with other metals traded on the London Metal Exchange. The price on LME has moved up from $900 per tonne at the beginning of this year to $1,117 per tonne early this month. In rupee terms, this translates into an increase of more than Rs 9,200 per tonne, based on the conservative exchange rate of Rs 42.5 per dollar.

"This will boost the bottomline of Hindustan Zinc, which revises its prices every month. In 1997-98, they had a production capacity of 1.65 lakh tonnes," said ananalyst.

Analysts point out that of the seven traded metals on LME, zinc is the only metal where demand is projected to exceed supply and hence, prices will remain bullish. In the domestic market too, demand outstrips supply. Besides, the spurt in prices of other metals has rubbed off on zinc.

"There is a likelihood of a closure of a mine in Canada, due to strike by workers, which is owned by Falcon Bridge. The mine produces 1.44 lakh tonnes of zinc and 1.34 lakh tonnes of copper per year. The impact of the closure will also be felt on prices, which will move up further," said an analyst.

According to market sources, one of the domestic asset management companies is also extremely bullish and has been buying aggressively at the Hindustan Zinc counter.