MONTREAL, Oct. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Orbite Aluminae
Inc. (TSX:ORT / OTCQX:EORBF) (the "Company" or
"Orbite") is pleased to announce major technical
achievements and the final design phase of the smelter-grade
alumina (SGA) plant. With the support of M&K, a North
American leader in chemical process design, Orbite successfully
modified the SGA plant design by incorporating the best practices
from the chemical industry and expanding the breadth of its
innovative processes, resulting in a significant reduction in the
consumption of fossil fuels by at least 30%, and of water by at
least 60%. These advancements should lead to a major
reduction in the number of operational units required in various
aspects of the SGA plant, and provide the basis for a decrease of
the estimated operating and capital costs. The final design
of the SGA plant is expected to ensure the consistent production of
high-quality smelter-grade alumina, while improving Orbite's
position as a low-cost producer and leader for clean technologies
for the alumina industry.
"These advancements represent a major achievement for Orbite,"
said Richard Boudreault, Orbite's
President and CEO. "By simplifying and optimizing the SGA plant
design, we succeeded in our goal of reducing our dependence on
fossil fuels while significantly improving the plant economics.
This consolidates our position as one of the lowest-cost and
environmentally-friendly producers of alumina and its
by-products."
As part of the final design of the SGA plant, Orbite developed
and incorporated a new proprietary calcination technique using
circulating fluid beds that operate at lower temperatures and
enable the heat generated from calcination to be reused in the
hydrochloric acid regeneration system, thereby, reducing fossil
fuel consumption by at least 30%. The final design also
reflects important changes to the acid leaching and acid
recovery/regeneration systems. Water consumption has been
reduced by 60%, resulting in lower volumes of acid solution.
These lower volumes automatically reduce the number of
separation/crystallization and acid regeneration units required, as
well as the number of units required for the individual extraction
of by-products. These design improvements are anticipated to have a
considerable impact on the plant economics since alumina
calcination represented 55% of fossil fuel costs, which in turn
represented 60% of all SGA operating costs. The SGA operating
cost savings are estimated to be in the order of 20% relative to
the PEA (Orbite's Revised Preliminary Economic Assessment dated
May 30, 2012. According to
Canadian 43-101 regulations, mineral resources that are not mineral
reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability).
The SGA plant Feasibility Study, which has now entered the
detailed engineering and sub-system integration phase, will be
modified to incorporate the final design of the SGA plant, and is
now anticipated to be completed during the first half of
2013. Construction of the first phase of the first SGA plant
is still anticipated to begin in 2013 with completion by late
2014.
"Orbite's unique patented technology has reached another
milestone", said Denis Primeau,
Orbite's Chief Engineer. "The final design of the SGA plant is now
set and brings us one step closer to construction. As
anticipated, the integration of previously separate subsystems, as
part of the optimization process, and the inclusion of innovations
from the chemical industry yielded important synergies. The
key drivers were substantial reductions in the quantity of water
and energy consumption, both critical factors for chemical
processes and improves our environmental footprint. By
utilizing circulating fluid beds, our proprietary calcination
technique will differ completely from the rest of the alumina
industry and will enable our plants to meet and exceed the industry
standard for smelter grade alumina. Our ability to innovate
technologically while improving the economics of our process
through the integration of best practices from the chemical
industry has been truly remarkable."
"For M&K, it is obvious that the Orbite process, which we
are tasked with integrating as part of the Feasibility Study, has
not only been demonstrated using commercially available equipment
but also represents the first viable alternative to the Bayer
process for the production of smelter grade alumina", added
Stanley Myer, M&K's
co-founder. "The final design of the SGA plant was
established by M&K with Orbite's engineering team and we have
validated the improvements cited today. Since it was established,
M&K has always been involved in major chemical process projects
such as that of Orbite's. As such, all of the equipment,
products and by-products under consideration by Orbite are within
the realm and expertise of our company."
The technical content in this press release has been reviewed
and approved by Denis Primeau, Eng., a "qualified person" pursuant
to National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure of Mineral
Projects (NI 43-101). Mr. Primeau is the Chief Engineer of Orbite,
and as such, is not independent pursuant to NI 43-101.
About Orbite
Orbite Aluminae Inc. or "Orbite" (TSX:ORT; OTCQX: EORBF) is a
Canadian cleantech company whose unique technology could have a
significant impact on the aluminum industry. Our innovative process
allows for the environmentally sustainable production of smelter
grade alumina, high-purity alumina and high-quality high-value
by-products —including rare earths—from locally sourced aluminous
clay and other feedstocks including bauxite, kaolin, nepheline, red
mud and fly ash. Orbite plans to operate several smelter
grade alumina (SGA) and high-purity alumina (HPA) plants as well as
license its technologies to well-qualified producers aiming to
reduce their costs and environmental footprint.
The Company owns the intellectual property rights to the
patented and proprietary process for extracting alumina from
aluminous ores in Canada,
USA and Australia, and for which other international
patents are also pending for our eleven different families of
intellectual property rights. Our process is environmentally
friendly and does not produce any red mud. The process
extracts and recovers all constituent elements of the feedstocks,
thereby producing high-quality alumina and other high-value
by-products. The process is enabled by recent innovations in
industrial technology and chemical process design that were
previously unavailable or unknown to the alumina industry.
Orbite built and operated a commercial-scale pilot plant that
succeeded in producing commercial samples of smelter grade alumina
as well as high-purity alumina and rare earths.
Orbite has exclusive mining rights on over a total of 60,984
hectares in the Gaspe region of
Quebec, including the 6,665
hectare Grande-Vallee property,
site of an aluminous clay deposit containing an NI 43-101 compliant
1 billion tonnes Indicated Resource sufficient to satisfy a
half-century of the total Canadian alumina imports (mineral
resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated
economic viability). Orbite's first High-Purity Alumina (HPA)
plant in Cap-Chat, Quebec is
currently under construction and due to begin production by
year-end at an initial production capacity of 1 tpd increasing to 3
tpd in 2013 and to 5 tpd by 2014. The Feasibility Study for
Orbite's first SGA plant has advanced to the detailed engineering
phase. An NI 43-101 Revised Technical report, "Preliminary
Economic Assessment on Orbite Aluminae Inc. Metallurgical Grade
Alumina Project" dated May 30, 2012
is available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com). Orbite has signed a
memorandum of understanding with the world's largest aluminum
producer, UC Rusal, for participation in the first phase of the
first SGA plant.
Orbite has published a series of white papers on the potential
markets for its technology including the production of alumina and
extraction of rare metals from multiple feedstocks which are
available on our website
(www.orbitealuminae.com/en/technology/white-paper).
Forward-looking statements
Certain information contained in this document may include
"forward-looking information". Without limiting the foregoing, the
information and any forward-looking information may include
statements regarding projects, costs, objectives and future returns
of the Company or hypotheses underlying these items. In this
document, words such as "may", "would", "could", "will", "likely",
"believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "plan", "estimate" and
similar words and the negative form thereof are used to identify
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements should not
be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and will
not necessarily be accurate indications of whether, or the times at
or by which, such future performance will be achieved.
Forward-looking statements and information are based on information
available at the time and/or the Company management's good-faith
beliefs with respect to future events and are subject to known or
unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other unpredictable
factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control. These
risks uncertainties and assumptions include, but are not limited
to, those described in the section of the Management's Discussion
and Analysis (MD&A) entitled "Risk and Uncertainties" as filed
on March 22, 2012 on SEDAR, and could
cause actual events or results to differ materially from those
projected in any forward-looking statements. The Company does not
intend, nor does it undertake, any obligation to update or revise
any forward-looking information or statements contained in this
document to reflect subsequent information, events or circumstances
or otherwise, except as required by applicable laws.
SOURCE Orbite Aluminae Inc.