Orbite provides update on HPA plant construction

Orbite Aluminae provides an update on the construction of its 3 tonnes per day high purity alumina (“HPA”) plant in Cap-Chat, Québec.

Mechanical installation of the decomposer and calcinator has been completed per the Company’s earlier communicated timeline (see press release dated September 6, 2014).

The next major step in the construction is the installation of the refractory package consisting of 180 tonnes of bricks, mortar and castable in the decomposer and calcinator. Quality Control testing by the Company’s Technology Development Centre (“TDC”), which is part of Orbite’s Quality Assurance program, reconfirmed the suitability of the refractory products for achieving the required high purity levels during decomposition and calcination. Further testing, however, did identify non-conformities with some of the refractory material supplied to the Company that could potentially lead to mechanical stability issues.

Although the refractory materials supplied would have allowed the Company to operate the plant in line with expectations on product quality and consistency in the short term, Orbite has decided to pre-empt potential future mechanical issues that would have required substantial and costly refractory maintenance in light of the above referenced quality assurance results. The Company has therefore deferred installation of the refractory system, allowing for further testing with its supplier to confirm that the replacement materials supplied will meet long-term operational requirements.

Additionally, alternative refractory materials have been identified and tested that meet both stability and purity criteria. If testing results on the vendor supplied materials justifies moving forward using these alternative refractory materials, additional engineering and changes in installation procedures would be required.

Orbite now expects to commence refractory installation, either with the currently supplied materials or the alternatives identified, in January 2015, and anticipates commercial production to commence slightly later than originally anticipated, in the second quarter of 2015.

Extensive testing at the TDC reconfirmed the suitability of both the current and alternative refractory products for achieving the high purity levels in decomposition and calcination. As a consequence of these positive results, combined with the two production runs of aluminum chloride hexahydrate carried out in July and August, management is confident its technology, upon successful commissioning of the plant, will deliver high purity alumina meeting required specifications on a consistent basis.

Other construction activities, not dependent upon refractory installation, will be carried out in the interim. The additional refractory testing work and the related impact on the startup timeline are not expected to have a material impact on project budget.

“This extra work on the refractory system is proactive, and precautionary, to prevent issues from occurring that could require substantial plant maintenance down the line,” said Glenn Kelly, CEO of Orbite. “By engaging in this additional step, as well as having identified alternative suitable materials at an early stage, we have significantly de-risked completion of the refractory system. We are at the cusp of being commercial with a potentially ground breaking new technology, and would rather take the extra time to ensure the long-term operation of our plant than rush to market. Overall, we are progressing well towards completion of the plant and are confident of meeting our new schedule.”

Copyright and Exemption Declaration :¢ÙAll articles, pictures and videos that are marked with "China Aluminum Network" on this website are copyright and belong to China Aluminium Network (www.alu.com.cn). When transshipment, any media, website or individual must list the source from "China Aluminium Network (www.alu.com.cn)". We seek legal actions against anyone that disobey this. ¢ÚArticles that marked as copy from others are for transferring more information to readers, do not represent or endorse their opinions or accuracy and reliability. When other media, website or individuals copy from our website, must keep the source. Anyone that changes the articles' sources will hold the responsibilities for copyright and law problems. We also seek legal actions against anyone that disobey this. ¢ÛIf any articles copied by our website concern the copyright and other problems, please contact us within one week.