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ITRONICS SILVER-IRON-ZINC-SULFUR LEACH PROCESS TO
INCREASE SILVER REFINING CAPACITY UP TO 10 TIMES AND REDUCE COSTS BY UP TO 90
PERCENT
RENO, Nevada, July 25, 2008 -- Itronics Inc. (OTC B: ITRO; Frankfurt and Berlin
Stock Exchanges: ITG) today reported that its wholly owned subsidiary, Itronics
Metallurgical, Inc., has completed pilot leach tests which show that its new
process will increase per melt refining capacity by up to 10 times and reduce
per ounce refining cost up to 90 percent.
Itronics Metallurgical has been working on this process for several years and
described the technology in press releases dated November 6, 2007 and December
11, 2007. The silver-iron-zinc-sulfur concentrate is produced by the Itronics
Metallurgical photoliquid demetallization process. The concentrate is
dried and sent to the refinery for silver recovery, refining, and sale.
The concentrate has a relatively low silver content in relation to the iron and
sulfur. Presently some of the iron and zinc goes into a glass slag and
some of the iron and zinc combines with the sulfur to form an ?iron matte,?
which has some silver in it and which must be reprocessed to recover the
remaining silver.
The
purpose of the new technology is to remove the iron, zinc, and the sulfur from
the concentrate to reduce the amount of concentrate sent to the refinery, and
to reduce the amount of glass slag and iron matte produced by the
refinery. The expected financial benefits of the process are to: (1)
increase per melt silver refining capacity by up to 10 times with no increase
in per melt cost by reducing the amount of silver concentrate sent to the
refinery by up to 90 percent; (2) reduce waste by producing an iron-zinc
bearing liquid (Itromet FeLix Process), and a sulfur bearing liquid (Itromet
SuLix Process) that can be used as a raw material in GOLD?n GRO fertilizers.
Small
pilot scale leaching tests conducted in the first half of 2008 are producing a
recovery of iron and zinc of more than 85 percent and up to 90 percent of the
contained sulfur. The bulk volume of the residual silver bearing solids
is reduced by up to 90 percent. The residual solids contain all of the
silver along with other non-nutrient impurities. With a 90 percent
reduction in bulk volume, the melting furnace will now be able to produce up to
10 times more silver with each melt, at no increase in cost. The other
positive outcome is that the iron, zinc, and sulfur content in the produced
liquids is high enough to work well for GOLD?n GRO fertilizer
manufacturing. This will help stabilize some of our fertilizer raw
material costs once it is implemented.
?We are
excited by this positive outcome of this clean technology development,? said
Dr. John Whitney, Itronics? President. ?We are working on the leach plant
design, preparing a capital budget, and a construction schedule. We
project the leach plant can be built within six months after obtaining capital
funding.?
Itronics Metallurgical has identified several other potential applications
where the FeLix and SuLix processes could reduce processing costs and reduce
waste by profitably converting material presently being wasted into commercial
products:
- Processing steel wool (ion exchange) cartridges which
are widely used in the United States to perform on site silver removal from
photographic liquids at user sites where hauling is not required. Both
iron and silver would be recovered. This is a large source of iron and
photo silver.
- Processing the cores of non-mercury bearing silver
batteries to recover zinc and silver.
- Processing the cores of non-mercury bearing alkaline
batteries to recover zinc and manganese.
- Processing flue dusts produced by steel mills to
recover zinc and iron. This is a potentially large future use.
- Processing of concentrates produced by certain
silver-zinc mines. While this would require more application development
work to match the processes to specific concentrates, its potential is huge.
?Itronics
Metallurgical is frequently asked if it can accept and process steel wool
cartridges. This category of silver-bearing photographic waste has not
been accepted because of the narrow profit margins available. The same is true
for non-mercury bearing silver battery cores. The new technology is cost
reducing and eliminates waste by producing fertilizer raw materials, making it
economically attractive. We have already conducted laboratory and pilot
tests that have validated that the process will work on these materials,? said
President Dr. John Whitney.
On-going clean process technology developments are establishing the basis for
continuing long term growth. Itronics? continuing expansion is a result of
years of research and development that has made its innovative vertically
integrated photochemical recycling technology that completely converts the
waste stream to pure silver, and its high quality GOLD?n GRO brand of
environmentally compatible fertilizers a success. GOLD?n GRO Guardian
Deer Repellent is a direct extension of the GOLD?n GRO technology and opens up
a large new market segment for the Company?s products.
About Itronics
Headquartered in Reno, Nevada, Itronics Inc. is a
"Creative Environmental Technology" company. Itronics, through
its subsidiary, Itronics Metallurgical, Inc., is the only company with a fully
permitted ?Beneficial Use Photochemical, Silver, and Water
Recycling? plant in the United
States that can convert used
photoliquids into pure silver and GOLD?n GRO liquid fertilizers. The
Company also provides environmentally compatible mining technology development,
project planning, and technical services to the gold mining industry and
operates the popular InsideMetals.com web site, http://www.insidemetals.com., which provides a
value-added WORLD VIEW of Gold Producer Stocks, Mineral Producer Stocks, Junior
Gold Stocks, and Junior Mineral Stocks. Itronics has received numerous
domestic and international awards that recognize its ability to successfully
create and implement new environmentally compatible recycling and fertilizer
technologies.
The Company?s environmentally friendly GOLD?n GRO
liquid fertilizers can be used for lawns and houseplants, and are available,
along with liquid fertilizer injectors, at the Company's "e-store"
catalog at http://goldngro.com .. The popular Silver Nevada Miner
bars are available at the Company's ?e-store? catalog at http://www.itromet.com
..
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OUR WEB SITE: http://www.itronics.com
("Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release contains or may contain
forward-looking statements such as statements regarding the Company's growth
and profitability, growth strategy, liquidity and access to public markets,
operating expense reduction, and trends in the industry in which the Company
operates. The forward-looking
statements contained in this press release are also subject to other risks and
uncertainties, including those more fully described in the Company's filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company assumes no
obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect actual
results, changes in risks, uncertainties or assumptions underlying or affecting
such statements, or for prospective events that may have a retroactive effect.)