Itronics Invents Process to Recover Zinc From Zinc-Bearing Brass & Bronze Smelter Flue Dust; Contained Silver & Gold Also to ...
January 15 2014 - 9:20AM
Marketwired
Itronics Invents Process to Recover Zinc From Zinc-Bearing Brass
and Bronze Smelter Flue Dust; Contained Silver and Gold Also to Be
Recovered
Breakthrough Invention
RENO, NV--(Marketwired - Jan 15, 2014) - Itronics Inc.
(PINKSHEETS: ITRO), a growing and diversified fertilizer, silver,
and minerals producer, today announced that it has
successfully tested a new process to recover zinc oxide from
secondary brass and bronze smelter flue dust for use in its GOLD'n
GRO zinc micronutrient fertilizers, the highest volume fertilizers
the Company sells. The new process is named the Itromet ZinLix
Process.
The objective of the new process is to develop a lower cost
source of zinc oxide as a substitute for the very high purity zinc
oxide that the Company purchases to make its GOLD'n GRO zinc
micronutrient fertilizers. The highest purity zinc oxide produces
the best crop response. The high purity zinc oxide is more
expensive than lower quality zinc typically used in competing zinc
micronutrient fertilizers. Replacing purchased high purity
zinc oxide with recycled high purity zinc oxide in the Company's
GOLD'n GRO zinc micronutrient fertilizers could provide both a
price and effectiveness advantage in the marketplace. Further
development may also allow the Company to produce high purity zinc
metal for commercial sale as a separate product.
In recent years the Company has been investigating zinc oxide
bearing waste streams where the Company's hydrometallurgical
technology could be used to recover and produce zinc oxide with
purity suitable for use in its GOLD'n GRO zinc micronutrient
fertilizers. Zinc-bearing flue dusts from steel mini-mills and
secondary brass and bronze smelters have been identified as
potential large scale sources. It is estimated that there are
approximately one million tons of zinc-bearing steel mini-mill flue
dust generated annually in the United States and that there are an
estimated 300,000 tons of secondary brass and bronze smelter
zinc-bearing flue dusts generated in this country. A
significant percentage of both of these zinc bearing waste streams
are disposed of at a significant cost as hazardous waste due to
varying levels of non-nutrient metal impurities.
In 2013 the Company made a decision to begin testing the zinc
oxide recovery concept using high zinc content secondary
brass/bronze smelter flue dust first due to lower impurity content
and simpler composition. A secondary brass/bronze smelter
operator was identified as a potential supplier for high zinc
content flue dust and samples were obtained for
evaluation. The tests were conducted in the 2013 third and
fourth quarters. The results were very satisfactory and give
the Company confidence to proceed with development. The new
process is based on the Company's proprietary GOLD'n GRO zinc
micronutrient fertilizer manufacturing technology that has been
proven over more than 10 years of commercial operation.
The Company believes that a second process using a combination
of the ZinLix and its already developed FeLix technologies would be
necessary for processing steel mini-mill flue dusts. The
technology for processing steel mini-mill flue dusts could be
developed after the ZinLix technology is demonstrated at a large
pilot scale.
The ZinLix technology is a "breakthrough invention," that could
solve a longstanding industrial waste management problem in the
United States and other countries worldwide that have steel
mini-mills and secondary brass and bronze
smelters. Information published by the former U.S. Bureau of
Mines has stressed that "effective recycling of flue dusts is a
continuing problem for steel mini-mills and brass and bronze
secondary smelters."
The timing for this new development is excellent since market
analysts are forecasting that zinc prices will rise substantially
over the next two or three years due to existing mine closures,
delays in new mine developments, and continuing growth in worldwide
demand for zinc products. Sourcing high purity zinc oxide from
a low quality raw material is expected to improve the Company's
profitability by reducing raw material cost and would allow the
Company to continue to offer competitive GOLD'n GRO zinc
micronutrient fertilizer pricing to its distributor. Also,
zinc flue dust suppliers could realize significant environmental
and disposal cost savings.
Commercial sale of process residuals which have a high silver
and gold content are expected to contribute to an increase in
silver/gold sales and profitability. Present technology
available to zinc flue dust generators does not provide economic
recovery of the silver and gold contained in the zinc bearing flue
dusts and so these metals are permanently lost when the waste is
disposed in permitted solid waste dumps.
Another potential major benefit of the technology is the
possibility that high purity zinc metal can be recovered for
sale. This would provide year round income because there is a
continuous non-seasonal global end market for high purity zinc
metal. If further testing proves positive, it opens up the
opportunity to establish a large scale "stand alone" zinc refining
plant, possibly in northern Nevada, for complete processing of zinc
rich flue dusts into commercially saleable goods.
A review by the Company of the relevant global technical
literature suggests that zinc metal recovery from chemistries with
important similarities to the ZinLix chemistry may require up to 40
percent less electrical energy compared to conventional zinc
refining. Electric energy cost is a major component of current
refined zinc metal production cost and so significantly lower
electrical energy cost would provide a strong economic driver for
this part of the technology development.
"Our goal with the new technology is to completely convert the
zinc-bearing flue dust into saleable goods, analogous to what we
are doing with the silver-bearing photographic liquids," said Dr.
John Whitney, Itronics President. "We believe that our
fertilizer manufacturing technology and related fertilizer market
access and our existing permitting will make this
possible. Materials that are currently classified as hazardous
waste will become commercial raw materials when used in our new
ZinLix manufacturing process."
"Pilot scale development work will provide very high purity
secondary source zinc oxide that will be gradually substituted in
our GOLD'n GRO micronutrient zinc manufacturing for the high purity
zinc oxide now being purchased. In the early stages of
development the main time delay factors will be environmental and
building permits and capital acquisition to fund the development
work. Modular process unit development at progressively larger
scale will be used to mitigate permitting delay factors and to
shorten development time. Early stage pilot work can be done
under the Company's existing facility R&D permitting," Dr.
Whitney said.
About Itronics:
Headquartered in Reno, Nevada, Itronics Inc. is a "Creative
Clean Technology" company that produces GOLD'n GRO liquid
fertilizers and pure silver bullion. 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, and is developing the Fulstone Iron Oxide Copper Gold
exploration property in Nevada.
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. Its 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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