Arafura Rare Earths has entered into an agreement for the supply of the sulfuric acid plant for its 100% owned Nolans NeodymiumPraseodymium (NdPr) Project in the Northern Territory, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.
The sulfuric acid plant will be supplied by Chemetics Inc. a global supplier of sulfuric acid and other specialty chemical facilities, a wholly owned subsidiary of Worley. The sulfuric acid plant for Nolans will utilize Chemetics proprietary CORE-SO2 process which significantly reduces capital cost, maintenance cost and sulfur dioxide emissions from the plant.
The Chemetics plant is also significantly smaller than a traditional sulfur burning acid plant allowing increased use of modularization reducing the volume of site installation labor. These savings were incorporated into the recent Nolans project update. The initial work package includes finalization of specifications and engineering design to allow the plant to be incorporated into the overall project design.
Arafura’s General Manager Projects, Stewart Watkins, said, “Letting the contract for the supply of the acid plant to a global supplier such as Chemetics provides confidence around the outcomes for the Project when the team reaches commissioning. Along with that, the progress made on the selection of our key vendors and placement of long lead orders means that we are set to commence early works construction in the coming weeks."
As well as the sulfuric acid plant, the Company has also placed several other the orders during recent weeks which are on the critical path for the project, including:
Sulfation bakes and cooler paddle dryers with ANDRITZ, primarily to secure detailed design and long lead materials for fabrication.
Pipe supply for the first 8 km of HDPE piping for the main water supply pipeline from the borefield to the plant site, which is required for early construction works.
Potable and wastewater treatment plants for the construction camp.
Equipment and tankage for temporary construction water supply in advance of the pipeline being installed to site.
We remind, WeylChem Group of Companies, owned by International Chemicals Investors Group (ICIG), has bought Ineos Sulphur Chemicals Spain SLU, a sulfuric acid manufacturer in Spain, from Ineos. With the deal, WeylChem Group has strengthened its footprint as one of the leading players in the European sulfur chemicals market. The acquired business' facility in Bilbao has a production capacity of 350,000 tonnes/y of sulfuric acid, resulted from sulfur burning. It also manufactures oleum and molten sulfur. In the future, the firm will be known as WeylChem Bilbao SLU. WeylChem Bilbao, together with the French operations at WeylChem Lamotte, will have a strong combined distribution, logistics and sales framework.
mrchub.com