Suppliers News (December 11, 2006)

European auto emissions catalyst for Inco joint venture

Inco (N-T) has teamed with German chemicals firm Sud-Chemie to form a joint-venture company that will provide the automotive industry with materials to control catalyzed diesel emissions.

The new company will be known as Alantum, and ownership will be split equally between Sud-Chemie and Inco ECM, a Germany-based subsidiary of Inco.

At first, Alantum will focus on making diesel oxidation catalysts and diesel particulate filters for European-built passenger cars and light trucks. The equipment will be produced at a new plant in Heufeld, Germany, beginning in 2008.

Each company brings complementary know-how to Alantum. Sud-Chemie is known for its expertise in catalysis, whereas Inco has extensive metals processing technology and recently developed a nickel-alloy foam particulate filter that Inco says offers significant benefits over traditional ceramic versions.

The European Union is tightening regulations governing vehicle emissions and technology to control diesel exhaust gas catalysts — a sizable emissions perpetrator — and this is seen as a burgeoning market.

“We view this as a breakthrough in catalyzed diesel emission control,” says Peter Goudie, Inco’s executive vice-president of marketing, about his company’s new nickel foam technology. “Our two companies, the automotive industry and the environment will all benefit from this partnership.”

Sud-Chemie is headquartered in Munich, Germany, and generated sales of about US$1.24 billion in 2005 with 5,000 employees at 65 sales and production sites worldwide.

Inco is the world’s second-largest nickel producer and was recently bought by Brazil’s Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (RIO-N).

Major buys Africa’s Longstaff group

In a move designed to gain a foothold in Africa’s hot drilling market, Moncton, N.B.-based Major Drilling Group International (MDI-T, MJDLF-O) has signed agreements to buy the operations of southern Africa’s Longstaff group for US$12.5 million.

These include South Africa’s Raldril Ltd., and the RA Longstaff drilling operations based in Botswana and Namibia.

The drillers operate in regions where Major Drilling currently does not. Under the agreements, Major would acquire 55 conventional drill rigs, along with some support equipment, an inventory of parts, and existing contracts.

Major considers the area to be one of “continuing growth in the industry.”

Most of the management of the African companies will remain, as will a large number of the drillers.

“Not only does this acquisition provide us with assets, experienced drillers and existing contracts in southern Africa, but it will also help our expansion into other countries in the region,” says Francis McGuire, president and CEO of Major Drilling Group.

McGuire says that within two years, the African companies should be able to double the US$14 million in revenue they will generate in 2006. The deal is expected to close later this month.

Major Drilling Group is one of the world’s largest metals and minerals contract drilling service companies with operations in Canada, the U.S., South and Central America, and in Australia, Africa, Indonesia and Mongolia.

Candente selects AMEC for Canariaco EIA

Candente Resource (DNT-T, CDOUF-O) has hired engineering and consulting firm AMEC (AMEC-L) to conduct the environmental impact assessment (EIA) study at the Canariaco copper project in Peru, which is held by Candente subsidiary, Exploraciones Milenio.

AMEC says it has conducted baseline studies, EIAs, environmental audits, mine closures, mine waste management and tailings dams, at a number of projects in Peru.

The EIA should start immediately through AMEC’s Peru office, with support from AMEC’s Earth & Environment branch in Burnaby, B.C. AMEC says its environmental arm consists of 2,200 specialists on earth and environmental engineering.

Canariaco is situated in the Andes in the Caaris district, province of Ferreafe, in northwestern Peru. The property is some 700 km northwest of Lima, and 110 km northeast of the city of Chiclayo.

The property comprises 5,500 hectares in six contiguous concessions. Copper mineralization was discovered at Canariaco by the British Geological Survey and its Peruvian counterpart after a stream-sediment sampling program in 1970. Candente plans to develop Canariaco according to the “Equator Principles,” a set of environmental management guidelines developed and adopted by 40 banks, which account for roughly 75% of the world’s project loans.

Candente has gold, silver, copper and zinc projects in Peru and Mexico.

BioteQ wraps up season at Raglan

BioteQ Environmental Technologies’s (BQE-V, BTQNF-O) water treatment plant at Raglan processed 816,000 cubic metres this year — 16.5% more than the budgeted treatment target for 2006.

BioteQ recently completed the second full operating season at the Raglan base metals mine in northern Quebec and the treatment plant was placed on standby mode on Nov. 7 for the rest of the winter. Normal operations should resume in May 2007.

The plant was originally designed to treat 550,000 cubic metres of water per year but underwent some modifications in 2005.

The treated water was maintained at less than 0.2 parts per million nickel concentration to meet the regulated discharge criteria of less than 0.5 parts per million total nickel content. The treated water can be released directly into the environment and does not produce any byproduct sludge for long-term storage.

Raglan is owned and operated by Switzerland-based Xstrata (XTA-L) subsidiary, Xstrata Nickel.

BioteQ’s Raglan water treatment plant uses the company’s proprietary ChemSulphide process, to selectively recover nickel from low-grade wastewater.