Having brought on board some experienced Russian and German consultants, Magnesium Alloy (MGAC.U-C) has begun a prefeasibility study at its Kouilou magnesium project along the coast of the Republic of Congo.
The Toronto-based junior has signed consulting and technology-transfer agreements with Russia’s National Aluminum and Magnesium Institute (VAMI), which developed the technology and took part in the design construction of all the magnesium extraction plants in the former Soviet Union.
As well, Magnesium Alloy has contracted VAMI and Russia’s Zaporozhie Titanium Institute to evaluate recent advances in magnesium extraction technologies. Both VAMI and the Titanium Institute took part in designing the technology used at Israel’s Dead Sea Works magnesium facility, the world’s newest magnesium extraction plant.
The lead contractor for the Kouilou prefeasibility study will be Salzgitter Anlagenbau, an engineering and general contracting division of German-based Preussag, which is involved in two carnallite solution-mining operations in Europe. Together with VAMI and the Titanium Institute, Salzgitter took part in the technical design of a proposed magnesium facility in Iceland.
The Kouilou prefeasibility study is slated for completion during the first quarter of 1999, with a production decision expected later that year. Annual magnesium production is projected at 58,000 tonnes, and, depending on the availability of low-cost electrical power, the proposed facility has the potential to rank among the world’s lowest-cost magnesium producers.
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