Macquarie Harbour Mining Provides Update on Salt Slag Processing Operations

The directors of Australia-based Macquarie Harbour Mining Ltd., （MHM） have announced that the company has made significant progress in its plans to open an aluminum salt slag operation in the United States.

The company notes that objectives were achieved to facilitate project planning for the feasibility study with Smelter Service Corp. at its Mount Pleasant, Tenn., facility. Further, according to a MHM release, there were continuing contract discussions for other salt slag processing operations and meeting state and local regulatory officials in Tennessee capable of helping MHM develop salt slag processing facilities in the United States.

The press release notes that while landfilling salt slag continues in the United States, MHM says that its technology can recover substantial value from landfill and feedstock sources. MHM believes an economic incentive will result in the ending of salt slag landfilling in the United States, regardless of the regulatory position.

To facilitate the salt slag processing operations at Smelter Service’s Tennessee plant, Ben Mead, MHM’s executive director, is relocating to Tennessee so the company can complete the feasibility study with Smelter Service Corp by the end of June 2011, as well as and continuing to provide assessments of other regional and national salt slag processing opportunities.

The company also notes that in Australia, approval for the construction of the salt evaporation ponds is continuing, and meetings have been scheduled to determine an accurate time frame for completing the process. Once approval is granted the ponds will take 3-4 weeks to construct.

MHM, through its wholly-owned operating subsidiary Alreco Pty Ltd, owns the global rights to a technology for processing of aluminum salt slag. Alreco’s technology can recover value from the commodities contained within the salt slag.

Alreco’s ALNAK technology processes salt slag and separates it into its individual components of aluminum （10-20 percent）, aluminum oxide （30-40 percent）; and a salt and potassium chloride blend （50 percent）.

The technology results in total waste treatment and production of aluminum and other saleable products. The technology removes the need for any portion of the salt slag to be sent to landfill.

MHM says that the ALNAK technology has significant environmental benefits, including:

Reduced energy consumption. The energy used in recycling aluminum recovered from salt slag is 95 percent less than the energy required to produce aluminum from bauxite ore;

Recycling of salt, potash and aluminum oxide; all valuable commodities that were previously consigned to landfills;

Less hazardous materials in landfills;

Alreco processes all of the aluminum salt slag produced in Australia under contracts with Alcoa Australia Rolled Products Pty Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alcoa, Inc. and Sims Aluminium Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sims Metal Management Ltd. Alreco also processes other wastes for Sims, including non-salt slag and aluminum dross.

Alreco also has a program to process previously landfilled salt slag to recover the valuable commodities.