MUSCAT, JULY 23 - Antimony production has commenced at a plant operating at Sohar Port and Freezone — a move that propels Oman into a select club of producers of this strategically important metal. Earlier this week, Tri-Star Resources plc, the minerals processing company, announced that Strategic & Precious Metals Processing LLC (SPMP), the owner of the antimony-gold processing facility in Freezone Sohar, has produced its first antimony metal. London-based Tri-Star has a 40 per cent shareholding in SPMP with the other joint venture partners being the Oman Investment Fund, a sovereign wealth fund of the Sultanate with a 40 per cent equity and DNR Industries Limited, part of Dutco Group in Dubai (20 per cent equity holder).
Following the completion of the remedial works to one of the two SPMP antimony smelting furnaces (RF1) and the installation of a new gas cooling solution, first antimony has been produced at a purity of 98 per cent. As production increases, this is expected to rise to in excess of 99.65 per cent, the level required for commercial sale, said Tri-Star. SPMP’s plant is billed as the largest antimony roaster outside of China, as well as the world’s first ‘clean plant’ designed and built to EU environmental standards. At full capacity, the high-tech facility is designed to produce in excess of 20,000 tonnes of antimony metal and antimony trioxide (ATO) per annum. A valuable by-product of antimony production includes gold dore — a semi-pure gold alloy that needs to be further refined to yield pure gold. Output of gold dore is estimated at 20,000 ounces per annum (approximately 560 kilos).
With the process proven, SPMP intends to begin the immediate ramp up of production with and to commence replicating the successful remedial works conducted at RF1 at the second furnace (RF2) to reach full production during 2020. The Board is confident about the demand fundamentals of antimony and looks forward to the ramp up and commercial sales, Tri-Star noted. “The gold recovery circuit is now also proven and operational. To date gold concentration in the alloy production remains at testing rather than commercial levels. As levels increase, the production will be refined further in order to produce commercial grade gold dore. This opens up a dual revenue stream opportunity for SPMP,” the shareholder stated.
Adrian Collins, Chairman of Tri-Star commented: “The production of antimony is a milestone in the history of SPMP and Tri-Star. We believe the project is coming to fruition and I would like to congratulate the SPMP team for the work that they have done over the last 9 months in overcoming the significant technical issues faced. I look forward to updating the market as the ramp up of antimony production progresses, production of gold ore increases and the true value potential of the SPMP project materialises.”
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
