Environmental Clean Technologies Ltd’s (ASX:ESI) (ECT) shares are trading about 8% higher intra-day at $0.014 after completing the basic design for the Matmor component of its planned India project.
Matmor is the world’s first lignite-based primary iron making technology capable of replacing metallurgical coal and high-grade lump iron ore with lower-cost alternative raw materials.
The India project seeks to scale up the Matmor technology from its current capacity of about 40 kilograms per hour to about 2 tonnes per hour, ahead of a subsequent scale up to a commercial module.
Unique lignite upgrading technology
Typically, lignite (also known as brown coal) can’t be used in traditional metallurgical applications such as the blast furnace due to its high moisture and volatile matter content.
Matmor’s breakthrough lies in its ability to remove the moisture (via the Coldry technology) and harnessing the natural chemistry of lignite via a unique process and furnace design built around a fundamentally different chemical pathway to that of a blast furnace.
Master project agreement to be signed by 30 June 2018
ECT India chairman and managing director Ashley Moore said, “We’ve worked with one of India’s leading pyro-metallurgical engineers, MN Dastur, to deliver this design package and look forward to moving to tender following the signing of our master project agreement (MPA), completion of funding arrangements and conclusion of the associated Coldry basic design package”.
The parties have jointly set the target to sign the MPA and achieve financial close by 30 June 2018.
