VANCOUVER — Working to redress the problems which forced the September closure of its Apex mine near St. George, Utah, Musto Explorations hopes to reopen the gallium and germanium-producing plants in February, 1988. A shortage of working capital caused by poor markets combined with technical problems in the germanium refinery led to the shutdown.
In the germanium refinery, the carryover of fluorides from the leaching process into downstream operations was causing extensive corrosion. To combat the problem, Musto developed a new solvent extraction process for leaching the germanium which can be installed in the refinery at a cost of $250,000(US). The pilot plant has proved successful and installation of the new equipment is expected to take two months, subject to the availability of funds.
Another plant improvement is a belt filter which has been ordered to replace the four wash thickeners. The unit will be installed in January.
Musto is seeking to raise additional funds to complete the two plant projects and is contacting various other companies interested in participating in the project.
The next interest payment on a $8.6-million convertible debentures is due on Jan 15. Musto is notifying debenture holders that the interest payment will be deferred in order to conserve funds.
All gallium inventory was sold in November. Germanium demand and prices remain strong, although gallium prices are still weak, President H. Lutz Klingmann reports.
Gallium is a liquid metal which can be combined with phosphor, arsenic or antimony to form compounds which have semi-conductor properties. Germanium, a semi- conductor with properties between those of a metal and an insulator, is used in making infrared optics.
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