Itronics Silver-Iron-Zinc-Sulfur Leach Process to Increase Silver Refining Capacity Up to 10 Times and Reduce Costs by Up to 90
July 25 2008 - 5:00AM
Marketwired
RENO, NV (FRANKFURT: ITG) (BERLIN: ITG) today reported that its
wholly owned subsidiary, Itronics Metallurgical, Inc., has
completed pilot leach tests which show that its new process will
increase per melt refining capacity by up to 10 times and reduce
per ounce refining cost up to 90 percent.
Itronics Metallurgical has been working on this process for
several years and described the technology in press releases dated
November 6, 2007 and December 11, 2007. The silver-iron-zinc-sulfur
concentrate is produced by the Itronics Metallurgical photoliquid
demetallization process. The concentrate is dried and sent to the
refinery for silver recovery, refining, and sale. The concentrate
has a relatively low silver content in relation to the iron and
sulfur. Presently some of the iron and zinc goes into a glass slag
and some of the iron and zinc combines with the sulfur to form an
"iron matte," which has some silver in it and which must be
reprocessed to recover the remaining silver.
The purpose of the new technology is to remove the iron, zinc,
and the sulfur from the concentrate to reduce the amount of
concentrate sent to the refinery, and to reduce the amount of glass
slag and iron matte produced by the refinery. The expected
financial benefits of the process are to: (1) increase per melt
silver refining capacity by up to 10 times with no increase in per
melt cost by reducing the amount of silver concentrate sent to the
refinery by up to 90 percent; (2) reduce waste by producing an
iron-zinc bearing liquid (Itromet FeLix Process), and a sulfur
bearing liquid (Itromet SuLix Process) that can be used as a raw
material in GOLD'n GRO fertilizers.
Small pilot scale leaching tests conducted in the first half of
2008 are producing a recovery of iron and zinc of more than 85
percent and up to 90 percent of the contained sulfur. The bulk
volume of the residual silver bearing solids is reduced by up to 90
percent. The residual solids contain all of the silver along with
other non-nutrient impurities. With a 90 percent reduction in bulk
volume, the melting furnace will now be able to produce up to 10
times more silver with each melt, at no increase in cost. The other
positive outcome is that the iron, zinc, and sulfur content in the
produced liquids is high enough to work well for GOLD'n GRO
fertilizer manufacturing. This will help stabilize some of our
fertilizer raw material costs once it is implemented.
"We are excited by this positive outcome of this clean
technology development," said Dr. John Whitney, Itronics'
President. "We are working on the leach plant design, preparing a
capital budget, and a construction schedule. We project the leach
plant can be built within six months after obtaining capital
funding."
Itronics Metallurgical has identified several other potential
applications where the FeLix and SuLix processes could reduce
processing costs and reduce waste by profitably converting material
presently being wasted into commercial products:
-- Processing steel wool (ion exchange) cartridges which are widely used
in the United States to perform on site silver removal from photographic
liquids at user sites where hauling is not required. Both iron and silver
would be recovered. This is a large source of iron and photo silver.
-- Processing the cores of non-mercury bearing silver batteries to recover
zinc and silver.
-- Processing the cores of non-mercury bearing alkaline batteries to
recover zinc and manganese.
-- Processing flue dusts produced by steel mills to recover zinc and iron.
This is a potentially large future use.
-- Processing of concentrates produced by certain silver-zinc mines.
While this would require more application development work to match the
processes to specific concentrates, its potential is huge.
"Itronics Metallurgical is frequently asked if it can accept and
process steel wool cartridges. This category of silver-bearing
photographic waste has not been accepted because of the narrow
profit margins available. The same is true for non-mercury bearing
silver battery cores. The new technology is cost reducing and
eliminates waste by producing fertilizer raw materials, making it
economically attractive. We have already conducted laboratory and
pilot tests that have validated that the process will work on these
materials," said President Dr. John Whitney.
On-going clean process technology developments are establishing
the basis for continuing long term growth. Itronics' continuing
expansion is a result of years of research and development that has
made its innovative vertically integrated photochemical recycling
technology that completely converts the waste stream to pure
silver, and its high quality GOLD'n GRO brand of environmentally
compatible fertilizers a success. GOLD'n GRO Guardian Deer
Repellent is a direct extension of the GOLD'n GRO technology and
opens up a large new market segment for the Company's products.
About Itronics
Headquartered in Reno, Nevada, Itronics Inc. is a "Creative
Environmental Technology" company. Itronics, through its
subsidiary, Itronics Metallurgical, Inc., is the only company with
a fully permitted "Beneficial Use Photochemical, Silver, and Water
Recycling" plant in the United States that can convert used
photoliquids into pure silver and GOLD'n GRO liquid fertilizers.
The Company also provides environmentally compatible mining
technology development, project planning, and technical services to
the gold mining industry and operates the popular InsideMetals.com
web site, http://www.insidemetals.com, which provides a value-added
WORLD VIEW of Gold Producer Stocks, Mineral Producer Stocks, Junior
Gold Stocks, and Junior Mineral Stocks. Itronics has received
numerous domestic and international awards that recognize its
ability to successfully create and implement new environmentally
compatible recycling and fertilizer technologies.
The Company's environmentally friendly GOLD'n GRO liquid
fertilizers can be used for lawns and houseplants, and are
available, along with liquid fertilizer injectors, at the Company's
"e-store" catalog at http://goldngro.com. The popular Silver Nevada
Miner bars are available at the Company's "e-store" catalog at
http://www.itromet.com.
VISIT OUR WEB SITE: http://www.itronics.com
("Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995: This press release contains or may contain
forward-looking statements such as statements regarding the
Company's growth and profitability, growth strategy, liquidity and
access to public markets, operating expense reduction, and trends
in the industry in which the Company operates. The forward-looking
statements contained in this press release are also subject to
other risks and uncertainties, including those more fully described
in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. The Company assumes no obligation to update these
forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changes in
risks, uncertainties or assumptions underlying or affecting such
statements, or for prospective events that may have a retroactive
effect.)
Contact: Paul Knopick 888-795-6336
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