Ann: Coretrack completes construction at Clontarf Pilot Plant, page-2

Australian oil and gas technology company Coretrack Ltd (ASX: CKK) (Coretrack, the Company) is pleased to announce that it has completed construction at its pilot-scale proppant manufacturing plant in Queensland.

The Company advises that its main main equipment construction team and engineers have now completed construction at the plant and will depart site today, after completing final testing and checking.

Construction of the pilot plant at Clontarf, near Brisbane, commenced in December 2014 (ASX announcement, 3 December 2014), and the Company is delighted to advise that it has been completed ontime and within-budget.

This is a significant milestone in the development timeline of Coretrack’s next generation, fly-ash based, proppant for use in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) of oil and gas wells globally. Proppants are a sand-like commodity used to ‘prop’ open fractures in shale rocks which allows oil and gas to flow, and are a major input and cost item in the fracking process.

As previously announced, commissioning at the pilot plant has commenced and each piece of major equipment will undergo commissioning over the coming two months, this process is progressing on schedule, with commissioning of the plant’s Fine Grinding Mill underway.

Pilot Plant progress
- The External Soundproof room around the mill has been installed and internal soundproof lining has been completed;
- The Kiln has had its electrical board connected and has successfully undergone its first test rotation;
- Refractory lining of the Kiln and other key components has been completed;
- First Laboratory Testing equipment has arrived on-site with the remaining lab equipment due to arrive this week; and
- The German Laboratory Technician has arrived in readiness for the proppant raw materials to be ground to specification ahead of commencement of manufacturing.

With construction now complete, Coretrack will continue with the progressive commissioning of the pilot plant, ahead of the commencement of initial proppant production. Commissioning of all components of the plant is expected to take two months from now, and initial proppants will be manufactured following the commissioning phase.

The Pilot Plant has been designed to validate the scale-ability of the Coretrack proppant product as a cost effective and superior alternative to bauxite and clay based proppants, typically used in fracking operations currently.