Orbite contractor can extract 20% of alumina from clay
2007-01-31 09:21 MT - News Release
Mr. Richard Boudreault reports
GRANDE-VALLEE: PRELIMINARY RESULTS IN THE ALUMINA EXTRACTION PROCESS DEVELOPED BY THE CEPROCQ
Centre d'etudes des procedes chimiques du Quebec (CEPROCQ) is completing on schedule the laboratory phase in the development of an alumina extraction process for Orbite VSPA Inc.'s Grande-Vallee deposit. Orbite presents performance preliminary results stemming from this phase.
An early result from the development process obtained from laboratory experiments indicates that a ratio of around 20 per cent of alumina by mass can be extracted from the raw Grande-Vallee clay. The raw clay contains approximately 24 per cent of alumina at the onset. The specialty alumina purity at the 20-per-cent extraction ratio is 99.99 per cent. A purity of better than 99.999 per cent can be obtained if a trade-off with the extraction ratio is applied. Such levels of purity are compatible with products that can be used in fabricating specialty optical fibres, optical glasses or orthopedic replacement joints; they represent high margins potential for Orbite. The CEPROCQ processes also generate as a side benefit ionic aluminum and ionic iron which have markets of their own right.
According to Dr. Serge Alex, principal scientist at CEPROCQ, "The technology strategy used has lead the development of an extraction process with very interesting potential of economic viability for the level of quality sought."
According to the National Instrument 43-101, Orbite must state that no prefeasibility or feasibility analyses have yet been produced using these results.
About CEPROCQ
CEPROCQ is a technology transfer centre located in Montreal whose mission is to support companies involved in chemistry and related sectors. Since its inception in 1997, CEPROCQ has been involved, among other areas, in the field of mineral extraction, a sector in which it has successfully developed a number of original technologies. Moreover, CEPROCQ and IPC (Institute for chemistry and petro-chemistry) was recently awarded with a $4.8-million facility expansion grant from Minister Raymond Bachand as part of the new Quebec science and technology policy.
