Itronics Updates 2009 Outlook for Environmentally Green Silver Sales and Its Stage 1 Silver Refinery Expansion
February 24 2009 - 5:00AM
Marketwired
Itronics Inc. (OTCBB: ITRO) (FRANKFURT: ITG) (BERLIN: ITG) reported
today that January silver sales by its wholly-owned subsidiary
Itronics Metallurgical, Inc. were double the 2008 full first
quarter as previously forecast. First quarter silver sales are now
expected to be more than two and one-half times the 2008 first
quarter.
"Full year silver sales are expected to double," said Dr. John
Whitney, Itronics' President. "With upcoming expansion, Itronics
will be able to recycle each major waste stream generated by the
photo industry, significantly broadening Itronics' service and
revenue opportunities."
In the fourth quarter of 2008 Itronics Metallurgical entered
into an interim refining agreement that made it possible to sell
some silver-bearing intermediate products that had been accumulated
over prior years. Sale of the bulk of these materials will be
completed during the first quarter. The silver captured by Itronics
is recovered from spent photo liquids, by a highly acclaimed
environmentally "Green" and environmentally beneficial process.
In early November 2008 Itronics announced plans for expansion of
its silver refining capacity in two stages. The Company also
disclosed that silver receipts in photographic liquids were
exceeding its capacity to refine the recovered silver on an
on-going basis, making the Stage 1 expansion a critical path item
for continuing the Company's growth. The interim refining agreement
the Company entered into in December solves the capacity issue for
2009 while the Stage 1 expansion is being funded and completed.
The Company is currently seeking the necessary funds for the
Stage 1 expansion, estimated at $500,000. Installation is expected
to take about 8 months after funding is in place.
Stage 1 will increase the per melt capacity of the refining
operation by 10 times with no increase in per melt cost. This
produces a 90 percent reduction in the melt cost per ounce of
silver produced. The increase in per melt capacity will be more
than sufficient to accommodate intermediate term growth, and will
also provide the capacity for acquisition of new silver-bearing
sources to further expand growth.
The Stage 1 refinery expansion will produce two new fertilizer
raw materials as byproducts. These raw materials are expected to
improve GOLD'n GRO fertilizer quality and profitability.
The core of the Stage 1 processing circuit incorporates two
leaching steps: (1) Itromet FeLix Process to remove iron and zinc,
and (2) Itromet SuLix Process to remove sulfur. A third step
(Itromet K-Thio Process) will be to establish pilot scale
manufacturing of potassium thiosulfate, a high value potassium
sulfur liquid fertilizer, and a new fertilizer for the Company.
The Itromet FeLix Process produces an iron zinc base liquid for
use as a raw material in manufacturing the GOLD'n GRO fertilizers
and will replace materials which are presently purchased from
outside suppliers. This base liquid, which is a new product for the
Company, is very clean and is expected to enhance the quality of
the GOLD'n GRO fertilizers.
The Itromet K-Thio Process is expected to produce very clean
potassium thiosulfate which will also be used as a raw material to
make the GOLD'n GRO fertilizers. The Company presently purchases
potassium thiosulfate to use as an ingredient in the fertilizers.
The Company's internal production is expected to modestly reduce
the need for external purchases of this material in the
intermediate term. Once this pilot process is operational, it will
set the stage for future expansion based on sourcing of
non-photographic raw materials.
Once Itromet FeLix and the Itromet SuLix Processes are
operational, the stage will be set for expansion to use another
category of photographic sourced silver-bearing raw materials.
These processes can be used to recover iron and sulfur from steel
wool recovery cartridges (sometimes called "ion exchange
cartridges") for economical use in our fertilizers. These
cartridges are used for on site silver recovery by some photo and
X-ray processors. There is a large supply of silver recovery
cartridges because they are the main method of photo-liquid
de-silvering by operators that use on site treatment of the liquids
before discharging them to the sewer. The Company estimates that
more than 15 million ounces of silver are being recovered in the
U.S. by these cartridges.
The Company plans to begin marketing this new processing
capability as Phase II of its Stage 1 silver refinery expansion.
Adding this raw material source will significantly increase the
amount of silver for refining, and it will also significantly
increase the amount of iron and sulfur-bearing raw material
available to make iron zinc base liquid and potassium thiosulfate
for manufacturing GOLD'n GRO fertilizers.
Itronics is successfully implementing its 5-year plan to use
internally developed environmentally green clean technology to
produce solid profitable growth. This focused approach to the use
of creative new clean technology has made the vertically integrated
"Beneficial Use Photochemical, Silver, and Water Recycling"
technology and the GOLD'n GRO brand of environmentally friendly
fertilizers a success. This breakthrough for the 140-year-old
Photographic Industry is revolutionary technology that creates a
"Green Consumer Option" for photo and x-ray processors that
continue to use silver halide photo technologies to make prints and
x-rays.
About Itronics
Headquartered in Reno, Nevada, Itronics Inc. is a "Creative
Clean 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 converts spent
photoliquids into pure silver and GOLD'n GRO liquid fertilizers.
The Company is developing environmentally compatible mining
technology, provides 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 clean recycling and fertilizer technologies. The
Company's environmentally friendly GOLD'n GRO liquid fertilizers,
which are extensively used in agriculture, 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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