Daily Gleaner article ...in case it soon disappears
Local firm ready to go for world gold
Catherine Metcalfe-Staff Writer
Fredericton-based EMR Microwave Technology is getting ready to take on the world with its unique method of extracting gold from ores.
The company has come up with a method for extracting the precious metal from hard rock that it claims is faster, cheaper and more environmentally-friendly than existing techniques.
Now all EMR has to do is convince the world mining community.
The company's test plant in Lincoln has been operating for several months, demonstrating EMR's patented technique to potential clients from around the world.
Before EMR came on the scene, three methods were commonly used -- extraction through a roaster, extraction using pressure cooker called an autoclave and bio-oxidation. But they are expensive to operate.
In fact, EMR president Jim Tranquilla speculated that with the current flagging price of gold, the cost of these methods will be so prohibitive to mining companies that 25 per cent of the western world's gold production could go out of business.
That's because their costs of production are higher than the current market value of gold.
EMR's method uses microwave energy, causing a chemical reaction that allows the gold to be released from the ore without some of the environmental reactions created by the other methods.
To top it off, EMR's operating and capital costs -- on a total plant basis -- are 25 to 30 per cent cheaper than the other methods, Tranquilla said. As a pre-treatment process, the cost can be as much as 60 per cent cheaper.
''What that really comes down to is that we can probably save somewhere between $50-$100 US ... on the production cost of an ounce of gold,'' he said.
It's easy to see how that could shift a mining company's ability to make money.
That EMR's new, cheaper method is coming on line when gold prices are low and mining companies are feeling the cash squeeze is simply a happy coincidence.
''Their bargaining position has changed considerably and we find that in the ... way they approach us,'' he said. ''There's a big difference in their posture from a couple years ago.''
So far, interest in EMR and its methods is high. Tranquilla said the company is negotiating a number of contracts and dealing with some of the world's largest mining companies, as well as some small ones.
EMR has received more than two-dozen inquiries and visits from mining companies, including some of the largest in the world -- Newmont, Placer Dome, Anglo-American.
The new near-commercial sized Lincoln Road test plant allows EMR to bring in mining execs to demonstrate its method.
Tranquilla said that several years ago, the company believed it could produce and market its process without having to demonstrate on a full-scale pilot plant. However, mining executives wanted to see proof that the process would work efficiently on a large scale before making an investment.
But he conceded that the company must be prudent. In addition to marketing, EMR must continue to develop processes and technology that allow it to stay ahead.
''Now we're getting ... a lot of questions about the processing of cooper, nickel, cobalt, tin, lead, zinc -- it goes on and on,'' he said.
''These are processes which are much less mature than our gold processes.''
The good news is that much of EMR's technology is adaptable to other metals.
''That's one of the advantages of not only our processes themselves, but also the equipment that we've designed and patented.
''It's very adaptable. But it's a very different proposition, even though the equipment may look very similar.'' |
