MONTREAL, Canada – The Canadian company Ferrinov Inc. has signed an exclusive five-year agreement with Wonder Technology Co. Ltd. for the distribution of some 6,000 tonnes of “green” pigments in the Chinese market. This agreement will enable Ferrinov to expand its plant in Sorel-Tracy, Quebec, Canada.

 

To increase its production capacity and fulfill the orders it has received, Ferrinov plans to invest $2 million in expanding its Sorel-Tracy plant. The plant will then produce 1,200 tonnes of pigments annually, compared with 200 tonnes now. Work is expected to be completed in August 2010, with the number of employees rising from 10 to 30. Company employees include specialists in inorganic chemistry, hydrometallurgy and organic chemistry.

 

Ferrinov has devised a hydrometallurgical process to make pigments, requiring only 15 percent of the energy needed by conventional technologies. Their production helps reduce greenhouse gases, with the manufacture of a tonne of Ferrinov pigments avoiding the emission of 4.5 tonnes of greenhouses gases compared with a similar quantity of pigments produced by means of conventional technologies.

 

The hydrometallurgical process developed by Ferrinov keeps substantial volumes of steel plant dust away from landfill sites by converting it to pigments. The process also avoids the mineral extraction and mining waste management created by the traditional production of pigments.