+++++++++++++++++++++++++ Rambora Technologies Ltd (ASX:RBT) today announced that Magnesium Investments Pty Ltd would take an option to licence what the company considers is the world's most advanced technology for producing magnesium. Canadian-based Alcan International Limited is one of the world's major consumers of magnesium for alloying. The licence from Alcan provides a new dehydration technology for Magnesium Investments' planned Latrobe facility, reducing costs for magnesium production.
Using this technology, Magnesium Investments is expected to produce high-quality magnesium for the lowest capital costs and lowest production costs in the world. Subject to shareholder approval, Magnesium Investments is soon to become a fully-owned subsidiary of Rambora Technologies Ltd, and holds the rights to the $600 million Latrobe Magnesium Project.
The Latrobe Magnesium Project will pioneer a way of producing magnesium from fly ash sourced from the adjacent Hazelwood power station. Fly ash from Victoria's Latrobe Valley, a by-product of brown coal combustion, is an extremely economical source of magnesium, as it avoids the costs of mining and double handling. The ash has a high magnesium content of up to 12 percent.
The agreement between Alcan and Magnesium Investments is expected to deliver lower cost production by exploiting the new Alcan Dehydration Technology (ADT) which allows an essential dehydration step in magnesium production to be accomplished with far lower capital and operating costs than other methods. Magnesium Investments will invest $2.77 million to commercialise Alcan's patented technology.
Over the coming year, Magnesium Investments plans to design, build and operate an ADT pilot plant. The anhydrous magnesium chloride this plant produces can be fed into Alcan electrolytic cells, where magnesium is extracted. Unlike older technologies, which release significant amounts Of C02 into the atmosphere, the Latrobe Magnesium facility will be a net consumer of C02.
"Clever design will result in a plant with a far greater energy efficiency than current methods", said Mr Chris Sylvester, Chief Executive Officer of Magnesium Investments. "This agreement is an important milestone for us. In any business, savings like these compound. Not only will we be producing high quality magnesium, as demanded by customers, but the ADT process will give us an edge over the rest of the market in terms of costs."
