Oct 15 2012
Ressources Minières Pro-Or Inc. is pleased to announce the upgrading of its pilot plant to a commercial production facility. After industrial scale testing Pro-Or now has the necessary data to construct a continuous operation plant. Pro-Or will be upgrading its current prototype plant to a 200 Ton commercial facility using four 50-ton reactors.
Regarding the recovery of PGM using industrial equipment, a series of endurance tests were executed to measure the performance and reliability of said equipment. An additional work team was formed and trained to operate the plant continuously 24 hours a day 4 days a week (12 hour shift). The plant ran with no mechanical failures or overheating of equipment for a test period of 7 weeks. This approach ensured a constant reaction temperature and homogeneous mixing of additives. As a result, the material retained its integrity and texture - there was no accumulation or clumping of material in the reactor during the reaction. One ton of material was processed at our facility and completed in September. The PGM saturated resin was calcined according to our enhanced method that does not produce carbon. The finished product was shipped to the refiner Johnson Matthey in Pennsylvania for final processing. Samples were sent to the laboratory for analysis. The results of the PGM contents will soon be available.
A detailed analysis and review of the continuous operation has helped Operations make changes to our production equipment, further improving production consistency and yields. Again, the objective of these endurance tests was to test output at an industrial scale in a continuous environment. Specific attention was paid to the continuity and reliability of processing equipment prior to dissolution. The operation also required that the reactor maintain stability of chemical compounds during these continuous operations.
The plant is now operating on a single 8 hours shift 5 days a week, treating approximately 5 Kg / hr. of ground ceramics. At this rate, the facility has a capacity of up to approximately 200 Kg / week. Periodic downtime is scheduled to enable the transfer of processed material to the dissolution phase as well as to preform required preventative maintenance on equipment.
This Industrial-scale testing has provided Pro-Or with the necessary data to complete the design of a 24/7 production facility that Pro-Or plans to implement in the coming months. This plant will increase production capacity in excess of 200-Ton via the phasing in of 50-ton reactors. It will operate in a remote warehouse with no use of smoke stack and is regarded as environmentally friendly yet very scalable with the ability to increase production by simply adding more reactors. PGM Solutions our joint venture partner based out of Abbotsford BC will provide the supply to support the factory. Discussions are ongoing with a number of U.S-based suppliers as a means of diversifying and increasing Pro-Or's sources of feedstock. Once fully operational, this plant will be in a position of generating sufficient cash flow to support future growth. As feedstock availability increase, more facilities will be built in their markets in different countries around the world.
Source: http://www.pro-or.com