Outokumpu signs a new deal on three cargo vessels with Langh Ship to reduce CO₂ emissions in transports

Outokumpu has agreed with its long-term transport partner, Finnish shipping company Langh Ship to replace the current three cargo vessels with new ships. The ships transport our coils from our mill in Tornio, Finland to our European hub in Terneuzen, the Netherlands, and return back to Tornio loaded with recycled steel, our main raw material. The first new ship will be taken into use in 2023.

The new vessels by Langh Ship are designed to meet Outokumpu’s ambitious sustainability targets in minimizing emissions and to comply with upcoming environmental regulation. The design has been developed in close cooperation between Outokumpu and Langh Ship. 

Outokumpu’s long-term climate target is to reduce its direct and indirect CO₂ emissions as well as those of its supply chain (scopes 1, 2 and 3) to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. Outokumpu has this year committed to a more stringent climate target by the Science Based Targets initiative to keep the global warming below 1.5 degrees. To this end, Outokumpu will further reduce its CO₂ emissions by 2030, approximately by 30% compared to 2020. In the beginning, the ships run on liquefied natural gas, but that can be directly changed to liquefied biogas without any changes.

“The route between Tornio and Terneuzen is of utmost importance to us in transporting coils to the European market and in bringing recycled steel to our melt shop in Tornio,” says Jyrki Sandelin, Category Manager for transports at Outokumpu. “With these three new vessels, we can reduce the CO₂ emissions by 40% compared to the previous vessels.”

Our cargo ships take a one tour between Tornio and Terneuzen in two weeks and they transport some 1.6 million tonnes of cargo each year. With the new vessels, the capacity of each vessel rises to 7,250 tonnes from the current 6,000 tonnes, increasing the capacity of our transport ships by 100,000 tonnes. Our vessels transport nearly half of the recycled steel used in Tornio.

Outokumpu Group

Outokumpu is the global leader in stainless steel. The foundation of our business is our ability to tailor stainless steel into any form and for almost any purpose. Stainless steel is sustainable, durable and designed to last forever. Our customers use it to create civilization’s basic structures and its most famous landmarks as well as products for households and various industries. Outokumpu employs some 9,500 professionals in more than 30 countries, with headquarters in Helsinki, Finland and shares listed in Nasdaq Helsinki. www.outokumpu.com

Top offers after closure of a shipyard in Spain. Up for auction until 30.11.2021 on www.surplex.com

The shipyard LA NAVAL in the Spain was specialized in the design and manufacture of suction hopper dredgers, the construction of specialized off shire vessels for oil and gas production and the construction of vessels for offshore wind turbines.

The shipyard has over 100 years of history and was known for producing high quality and specialized vessels. Divided into various workshops, warehouses, lacquering cabins and piping facilities, LA NAVAL consisted of a large complex for effective steel processing and shipbuilding. After closing down the operation, the site now needs to be cleared and the machinery sold. LA NAVAL entrusts the sale of the cranes and machinery to the online auction house Surplex.

Until 30.11.21, high-quality machinery from the shipyard's inventory can be auctioned off or purchased directly at www.Surplex.com

The highlights of the auction include high-quality machines and cranes from the following suppliers:

• GH 63/16 ton Double-Rail Overhead Crane
• PRAXAIR P-10000DXR CNC MARINER Plasma Cutting machine (2009)
• LAURAK 80/20 ton Double-Rail Overhead Crane
• BENNI BLANCH 12000x38 Three-Roller Bending Machine

And over 100 other items will go under the hammer. An inspection of the machines is possible by appointment. Surplex specializes in the sale of used machinery and offers a competent all-round service from a single source: From on-site quality control to disassembly, transport and customs clearance, buyers can rely on Surplex's experts.

About Surplex:

Surplex is one of the leading European industrial auction houses and trades in used machinery and factory equipment worldwide. The 16-language auction platform surplex.com registers approximately 50 million page views annually. More than 55,000 industrial goods are sold each year at more than 500 online auctions. The company based in Düsseldorf (Germany) has offices in fourteen European countries. More than 200 employees from 20 nations generate an annual turnover of more than EUR 100 million.

Links

• Surplex.com
• Auction

According to IRENA, floating solar is an emerging market with a high potential for rapid growth. While freshwater floating PV is being installed in more than 40 countries worldwide, seawater floating PV is a new market. In contrast to freshwater floating PV, providers of seawater floating PV are confronted with harsh environments, where the widely known conventional systems will fail. SINN Power’s Ocean Hybrid Platform is a seaworthy solution suitable for nearshore and offshore applications and ready for reliable and economical operations.

Floating PV (FPV) encompasses two markets, namely the freshwater FPV and the seawater FPV, as defined in the current Offshore Renewables Action Agenda 2021 by IRENA. According to a study by NREL the energy potential of floating PV on hydropower reservoirs is estimated to 7.6 TW (NREL, 2020). Currently, local potentials of seawater floating PV are investigated, e.g., for the Netherlands 45 GW. The worldwide potential of seawater floating PV is, according to IRENA, not estimated yet. However, current studies and market growth numbers show that seawater FPV has great potential to contribute to the blue economy.

The freshwater solutions are normally designed for deployment on calm waters like lakes or reservoirs. They can also be built in harbours or protected bays if the chosen material is salt water-resistant. Nevertheless, these systems are not safe against de facto any maritime location, not even in the Adriatic Sea, the Arabian Sea, or an enormous lake, due to the regular extreme events with high waves and/or wind.  As the possibility of extreme weather events rises, these systems are in danger of failing (Picture 4). Depending on the extent of damage, consequences will range from loss of revenue up to a complete loss of investment. Therefore, current freshwater solutions face restrictions in deployments at sea, partly even in protected coastal areas and big lakes.

On the other hand, flexible and uprising stiff seawater FPV systems are being developed and tested in protected areas. As an exception, SINN Power’s solution, the Ocean Hybrid Platform, is designed for unprotected maritime environments with a significant wave height of 12 m and wind speeds of 27 m/s without taking any damage (limited by the PV-cells). The floating structure itself survives wind speeds of up to 60 m/s. In addition, the OHP is designed maintenance free, a crucial factor in the financial performance of RE systems, and deployable in areas where current solutions are unsuitable. That opens completely new areas of applications for the RE market, including small, medium, and large-scale deployments in nearshore and offshore environments.

Dr. Ing. Philipp SINN (CEO, SINN Power): „Our approach to design a durable and long-living platform for renewable energy production in the maritime environment will drastically change the RE ecosystem. Potential use cases for project developers include the complementation of offshore wind parks to increase baseload capacity, providing RE to aquacultures, the hydrogen production, or simply producing electricity for coastal areas, remote islands, and many more.”

SINN Power has successfully carried out real-life tests in Heraklion and actively markets its innovative solution to project developers worldwide. In addition to the necessary hardware, including IP68-protected, smart-grid forming power electronics for floating hybrid systems, SINN Power offers a wide range of engineering, procurement, and installation services, including operation and maintenance following the requirements of the respective customers.

Learn more about SINN Power’s products and services www.sinnpower.com

SINN Power GmbH

Hydropower in New Zealand held a share of 55.6% in 2020 in its total annual power generation. However, this share is expected to marginally decline to 51.1% in 2030. Still, the hydropower generation in the country will continue to hold the dominant share in its generation mix till 2030, forecasts GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’s report, ‘New Zealand Power Market Outlook to 2030, Update 2021 – Market Trends, Regulations, and Competitive Landscape’, reveals that the installed hydropower capacity increased marginally from 5.2 GW in 2000 to 5.43 GW in 2020, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 0.2%. By 2030, the installed hydropower capacity will witness negligible growth to reach 5.44 GW, growing at a CAGR of 0.01% from 2020 to 2030. Even though the capacity additions are negligible, huge installed hydropower capacity means that hydropower will continue to lead power generation in New Zealand till 2030.

Rohit Ravetkar, Power Analyst at GlobalData, says: “Hydropower is the major source of power generation in New Zealand. Majority of the hydropower plants are in the South Island of the country. Electricity generated from hydropower sources in the South Island is then transported to the North Island through high voltage transmission lines. The country has already expanded its large conventional hydro capacity and future additions will be minimal and limited to small hydro plants.”

Majority of the hydropower plants in New Zealand are run-of-the-river schemes which can store electricity only for a few hours or days after generation. To enable the storage of this generated electricity, in July 2020, the government earmarked US$30m for the research and development of pumped hydro storage in the country.

Ravetkar concludes: “High dependence on hydropower generation is a major challenge for New Zealand’s supply security. With the country not having nuclear power and it being not keen on expanding its thermal power capacity, the country may look towards the rapid development of renewable sector to reduce its dependence on hydropower.

“For this, the government has rolled out several incentive programs and subsidies in the form of tax reliefs, capital cost grants and favorable power tariffs for renewable power. This is expected to result in rapid growth of the renewable sector with the renewable capacity growing at a CAGR of 5.6% from 2.24 GW in 2020 to 3.88 GW in 2030.”

• Comments provided by Rohit Ravetkar, Industry Analyst at GlobalData
• Information based on GlobalData’s report New Zealand Power Market Outlook to 2030, Update 2021 - Market Trends, Regulations, and Competitive Landscape
• This press release was written using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, primary and secondary research, and in-house analysis conducted by GlobalData’s team of industry experts 

About GlobalData 

4,000 of the world’s largest companies, including over 70% of FTSE 100 and 60% of Fortune 100 companies, make more timely and better business decisions thanks to GlobalData’s unique data, expert analysis and innovative solutions, all in one platform. GlobalData’s mission is to help our clients decode the future to be more successful and innovative across a range of industries, including the healthcare, consumer, retail, technology, energy, financial and professional services sectors.

International technology group ANDRITZ has successfully completed the start-up of a pressurized refining system supplied to Biyang Huifeng Wood Industry Board Co., Ltd. at its MDF production plant in Biyang, Henan province, China.  

With the new ANDRITZ pressurized refining system, the customer is capable of processing poplar wood chips as raw material. The heart of the new system is the innovative ANDRITZ 54-1CP refiner, which features high energy efficiency. The scope of supply also included a maintenance-friendly 20” discharger with the latest C-feeder concept, a compensator and a proven 20” ribbon feeder.

Weng Duansheng, Vice General Manager at Biyang Huifeng, says, “The excellent operation of our first pressurized refining system installed by ANDRITZ in our Jiangsu mill convinced us to trust once more in the know-how of ANDRITZ’s panelboard experts. The successful and timely start-up of our new line has proven that our decision was the right one.”

From left to right: Huang Yongli, MDF Technology Manager, ANDRITZ; Li Xingfeng, Vice General Manager, Biyang Huifeng; Weng Duansheng, Vice General Manager, Biyang Huifeng; Yu Hongsheng, Process Control Engineer, ANDRITZ; and Wang Hongren, Workshop Manager, Biyang Huifeng.

Michael Rupp, Vice President for Panelboard Systems at the ANDRITZ Paper, Fiber and Recycling Division, adds, “We always aim to continuously optimize our technology and services for our customers. Thus, it’s a pleasure to work with a forward-thinking customer like Biyang Huifeng, who values our efforts.”

Successful start-up of the new pressurized refining system in Biyang once again demonstrates ANDRITZ’s strong position in the Chinese panelboard industry, with more than 180 installations.  

Biyang Huifeng Wood Industry Board was established in 2017 and is mainly active in the wood-working and panelboard industry.

ANDRITZ GROUP

International technology group ANDRITZ offers a broad portfolio of innovative plants, equipment, systems and services for the pulp and paper industry, the hydropower sector, the metals processing and forming industry, pumps, solid/liquid separation in the municipal and industrial sectors, as well as animal feed and biomass pelleting. Plants for power generation, flue gas cleaning, recycling, and the production of nonwovens and panelboard complete the global product and service offering. Innovative products and services in the industrial digitalization sector are offered under the brand name Metris and help customers to make their plants more user-friendly, efficient, and profitable. The publicly listed group has around 26,800 employees and more than 280 locations in over 40 countries.

ANDRITZ PULP & PAPER

ANDRITZ Pulp & Paper provides equipment, systems, complete plants and services for the production of all types of pulp, paper, board and tissue. The technologies and services focus on maximum utilization of raw materials, increased production efficiency and sustainability as well as lower overall operating costs. Boilers for power production, flue gas cleaning plants, plants for the production of nonwovens and panelboard (MDF), as well as recycling and shredding solutions for various waste materials also form a part of this business area.

With the introduction of the new Alfa Laval PlusClean® cleaning nozzle, Alfa Laval’s broad tank cleaning portfolio is set to take a giant leap forward. The PlusClean delivers unprecedented 100% tank cleaning coverage, up to 80% savings in water and cleaning media costs, and no product contamination. Paired with a top-mounted tank cleaning device and installed flush with the tank wall or bottom, the PlusClean raises productivity and lowers total cost of ownership.

No shadows areas, no risk of contamination

“Integrating Alfa Laval PlusClean cleaning nozzles into any tank and tank cleaning process means there’s nowhere for contaminants to hide,” says Janne Pedersen, Global Portfolio Manager, Tank Cleaning, Alfa Laval. “Now the promise of optimal tank cleaning is truly a promise that we can keep. No shadow areas and no risk of product contamination. Period.”

Easy to install, simple to use

With its optimized, high-impact spray pattern, the PlusClean delivers 100% cleaning coverage in shadow areas that other tank cleaning spray nozzles miss. Installed flush with the tank wall or bottom, the cleaning nozzle has a revolutionary, built-in adjustment function that makes installation easy and operation effective, providing cleaning coverage in shadow areas, such as beneath agitator blades. This ensures thorough tank cleaning, unmatched by other tank cleaning devices.

Competitive advantage

Perfect for the pharmaceutical, dairy, food, beverage, and home-personal care industries, this innovative cleaning nozzle provides even more efficient cleaning and improves process efficiency and safety as well as product quality. This translates into higher productivity and increases competitive advantage for those who choose to add the PlusClean to their tank cleaning processes.

Sustainability at the core
At Alfa Laval sustainability is at the core of our business, and the PlusClean is no exception. This revolutionary cleaning nozzle delivers significant water and cleaning media cost savings, minimizing the impact on the environment.

For demanding hygienic applications

The standard Alfa Laval PlusClean is supplied as a media spring-activated cleaning nozzle for hygienic process tank cleaning. A special pneumatic-driven version is also available. For sterile and aseptic process tank cleaning, there’s the Alfa Laval PlusClean UltraPure, which is backed by Alfa Laval Q-doc documentation package to ensure full traceability across the entire supply chain.

Discover how 100% cleaning coverage from the Alfa Laval PlusClean boosts yield and cuts costs. To learn more, visit www.alfalaval.com/plusclean.

For further information, please contact:

Janne Pedersen
Global Portfolio Manager, Tank Cleaning Equipment, Alfa Laval
Phone: +45 22 77 84 52
E-mail: janne.pedersen(at)alfalaval.com

This is Alfa Laval

Alfa Laval is active in the areas of Energy, Marine, and Food & Water, offering its expertise, products, and service to a wide range of industries in some 100 countries. The company is committed to optimizing processes, creating responsible growth, and driving progress – always going the extra mile to support customers in achieving their business goals and sustainability targets. 

Alfa Laval’s innovative technologies are dedicated to purifying, refining, and reusing materials, promoting more responsible use of natural resources. They contribute to improved energy efficiency and heat recovery, better water treatment, and reduced emissions. Thereby, Alfa Laval is not only accelerating success for its customers, but also for people and the planet. Making the world better, every day. It’s all about Advancing betterTM.

Alfa Laval has 16,700 employees. Annual sales in 2020 were SEK 41.5 billion (approx. EUR 4 billion). The company is listed on Nasdaq OMX.

Moxa at SPS on Air 2021 – Digital and On-demand.

Moxa, a leader in industrial networking and communications, will now shine a spotlight on a number of innovations at SPS on air 2021 (23-25 November, Nuremberg, Germany) only. Due to the recent development of the COVID-19 infections in Bavaria, Moxa Europe is withdrawing its on-site presence at SPS. Moxa Europe will continue to participate in the accompanying digital event "SPS on air" and will be available to visitors via the digital networking platform. "We did not take the decision lightly, as the direct exchange with our customers and partners are very important to us. For this very reason, it is only logical to take the rapidly increasing incidence values into account and put the health protection of our visitors and employees first," says Jens Holzhammer, General Manager of Moxa Europe.

Visitors of Moxas presence at SPS on air and on Moxa’s event platform https://moxa-europe.com/sps will discover a comprehensive portfolio of reliable and secure solutions between sensor and cloud, designed to make the digital transformation journey both easy and safe.

As a manufacturer of industrial networking, connectivity and computing products, Moxa provides an optimized IIoT toolkit. For today’s sensor-to-cloud applications, the company works intensively with notable industry partners to make IIoT projects simple, fast, and scalable. Moxa will jointly present end-to-end solutions that address real use cases along the road to digital transformation.

IIoT gateway for cloud integration
Prime among the technology showcases will be Moxa’s ThingsPro Edge software platform, which works with the company’s intelligent IIoT edge gateways to simplify the development of robust and secure data-acquisition solutions from operational technology (OT) devices to popular IT-based cloud platforms such as Azure or AWS. The gateways can also serve more specialized platforms like Deutsche Telekom Cloud of Things, TeamViewer IoT Cloud, and Schneider Electric's EcoStruxure Machine Advisor.

Designed for remote monitoring and telemetry applications in sectors that include rail, power, marine, and oil and gas, these compact IIoT edge gateways are equipped with Intel x86 or ARM-based processors that provide reliable wireless connectivity in extreme-temperature environments. The gateways are designed for long-term operation and come with a rich variety of Moxa proprietary utilities, libraries, and tools to accelerate IIoT application development.

Of course, over time, more and more data processing will move from the cloud to the edge. Here, Moxa provides an increasingly wide range of edge computers as a platform for machine learning and analytics at the edge, with the MC-1200 and V2406C product lines representing the latest portfolio additions. The company is working with partners like Robotron, Keepler and other experts in AI at the edge.

Industrial cybersecurity solution
Security is of course a hot topic in any industrial digital transformation project. Moxa will show how it can secure OT networks with OT-IT integrated security. The company’s Industrial Cybersecurity solution now enables system integrators and machine builders to benefit from powerful intrusion prevention systems (IPS) that to date have only been part of a system-wide protection offer.

With EtherCatch IEC-G102-BP, a cigarette box-sized rugged IPS appliance, it is possible to protect critical machines or vulnerable legacy assets directly, while larger sets of assets can be segmented with EtherFire IEF-G9010, a next-generation firewall based on the same IPS technology. The accompanying Security Dashboard Console (SDC) IPS management software, together with Moxa’s unique MXview IEC-62443-perceptive network management software, provides a comprehensive way of maintaining the targeted IACS security level.

Secure network infrastructure
As a trusted partner in automation, Moxa will also showcase its latest all-in-one industrial secure router for safeguarding industrial applications. The new EDR-G9010 is a series of industry-certified firewall/NAT/VPN/switch/routers that act as a robust first line of defense for industrial networks in diverse applications such as smart manufacturing and critical infrastructure. Offering 10-port GbE performance and defense-in-depth security capabilities, the EDR-G9010 fulfills the needs of bandwidth-hungry applications requiring field-proven reliability and multi-layered security.

Notably, the high computing power of the EDR-G9010 platform enables it to run an intrusion prevention module (IPM), which will safely block ransomware, malware, viruses, and other cybersecurity threats in OT networks. This signature-based scanning technology moves traffic filtering and asset visibility in OT networks to an unprecedented level. Licensed on demand, the module will be available by mid-2022.

Live presentations
Moxa will host ‘IIoT ExpertTalks’ that will be streamed live on Moxa’s event platform. Topics will include analytics, machine learning, remote monitoring, and control and maintenance. Register here: https://moxa-europe.com/lp/sps-experttalks/

A significant £1.5m investment in a new high-speed production cell is helping a 159-year-old metal stamping specialist deliver a major contract to the Middle East.

Brandauer, which employs 63 people at its Birmingham factory, has strengthened its long-term partnership with Bruderer by installing a BSTA410-100, which is capable of up to 41 tonnes, 1600 strokes per minute and features a large 1110mm bed.

The machine will be used to manufacture stainless steel substrate frames for a male grooming product that is exported all the way to Israel and was chosen for its ability to achieve repeatable quality and parts in their millions.

Secured against intense international competition, the project underlined Brandauer’s

ability to take the customer through the entire journey, from developing the complex tooling to producing these parts in extremely high volumes.

“We needed technology that could give us the tolerances and speed required by the customer to meet the order quantities, quantities that have more than doubled since winning the work,” explained Rowan Crozier, CEO of Queen’s Award-winning Brandauer.

“The Bruderer was our 26^th press of theirs. We know the level of performance and reliability it can deliver and we knew we could work with their engineers to spec the machine so that it not only gave us the control we wanted for this project, but could also be deployed to pick up other high volume contracts we might be managing in the future.”

He continued: “We haven’t been disappointed. The control technology provides automatic ram shut height adjustment while the press is under acceleration and deceleration load for guaranteed process stability and pinpoint repeatability.

“This is essential when you are working with high tensile stainless steel that is just 0.15mm thick and utilising a progression tool that cost in excess of £100,000 to manufacture.”

The Bruderer BSTA 410-110 B2 was selected, customised and commissioned in a uniquely competitive eight-month window to meet the stringent delivery requirements of the global client.

Teams from both companies worked closely together to make this happen and to also ensure the machine was set-up to be fully automated to include post-production cleaning and re-reeling.

This means the press, alongside another Bruderer BSTA 510-110 B2, can produce up to 100 million parts for the customer every year.

“You just can’t beat the precision and speed of this technology and the £1.5m dedicated cell we’ve created for this is one of the best-performing in the business,” added Rowan.

Adrian Haller, Managing Director of Bruderer UK, concluded: “We’ve been helping Brandauer produce precision parts since 1976, so it’s great that the firm has once again turned to our presses for its latest product introduction.

“The tri-modular progression tool has more than twenty different stages and is one of the most complex the company has ever created. Our ram guidance system – exclusively at strip level, helps eliminate displacement between the punch and the lower die giving engineers the ultimate control over the quality of the component.                                                 

“It also plays a big role in reducing tool wear, which I know Rowan and the team were very keen on.”

For further information, please visit www.brandauer.co.uk

Akobo Minerals maintains its fast development pace at Segele with ongoing successful extension drilling, hints of new mineralisation targets and production planning well underway

During the first part of 2021, the Segele project was accelerated by the resource estimate, award of the mining licence and the scoping study. Since receiving the mining licence, resource extension drilling, surface exploration and multidisciplinary project development work has been ongoing to advance the project towards gold production. The fast pace of development has continued since, resulting in a need to release a summary of all the results achieved;

• The Segele project has so far an Inferred Mineral Resource of 52,410 ounces gold with an average world class grade of 20.9 gram gold per ton – industry avg. of 2-4 g/t
• The Segele scoping study envisages a very high-margin operation with an operating cost (AISC) estimated to be 243 USD per ounce of gold produced – industry avg. of 1,000 USD/oz
• Ground breaking mining license agreement awarded with right to hold funds offshore and repatriate profits from the same accounts
• Since the SRK Resource Estimate a total of 4,739 meters in 28 holes of deep core drilling has been completed
• Holes range from 123m in depth to 250m in depth
• Visible gold seen in 15 of 28 holes
• A total of 1044 samples from Segele and 1171 samples from Joru are pending assays
• High assay results from 370 samples from artisanal pits around the resource estimate have shown 88.0g/t, 8.9g/t, 12.9g/t and 6.15g/t. New drilling is planned to follow up these results
• Request for Expressions of Interest sent out to potential contract mining firms
• Quotes for processing plants being collected
• Gold production planning ongoing including:
• Infill drilling to allow detailed mine planning
• Sourcing a geotechnical specialist
• Sourcing a tailings storage facility designer
• Assessments of manpower and training requirements
• Environmental and Social baseline study fieldwork completed

From the ongoing core drilling we continue to intersect visible gold deeper than the samples used in the Mineral Resource Estimate. Also mine planning is underway to establish optimum ways to extract the mineralisation. From the illustration below we see a conceptual design of the planned mine shaft and also an indication of where the latest visible gold has been found.

Figure 1: Looking West at the Segele Mineral Resource Estimate (Orange and Red)

The April 2021 inferred resource estimate was calculated using a total of 32 holes of a total length of 3,159m of drilling at relatively shallow depths. Because the extension drilling campaign now targets mineralisation at much greater depths, the current resource extension drilling requires longer holes to reach the same mineralisation. Going forward the focus will be more on exploring new and shallower mineralized targets instead of only drilling deeper holes. Newly analysed data from artisanal pits indicates possible new targets to the South of the Segele Mineral Resource estimate. See illustration below for an overview;

Figure 2: Looking West at the Segele Mineral Resource Estimate (Orange and Red)

The positive assay results from artisanal pits is an exciting development for the company geologists who have been anticipating the discovery of new gold mineralisation. The reliability of these grab sample results is relatively diminished when compared to the drilling. To upgrade our understanding of these new targets, scout drilling has been scheduled for drilling within the next 2-3 months. If the scout drilling and related mining studies is found to be successful, these new targets may provide additional ore to the planned Segele processing plant.

In an important step towards production, Akobo Minerals has started the selection and contracting process for potential contract mining firms. It is anticipated that the contract will be awarded in two stages; underground access and stoping (ore extraction). The first process plant quote has been received and it is anticipated that additional quotes will be received before the end of the calendar year.

Looking forward it is anticipated that there will be two rigs working on Segele extension drilling and infill drilling, and a third rig drilling at new Segele mineralisation. Upon receipt of infill drilling results, resource estimation and mine planning will be carried out – major parts of the delivery of the Prefeasibility study. Within Q1 of 2022, the company intends to award contracts for mining activities and processing plant production.

With regards to Joru, the current drill program has just been completed, and assays are on their way to be analysed at ALS Ireland. More update will be given as soon as the results are ready.

For more information contact 

Jørgen Evjen, CEO 
Mob.: (+47) 92 80 40 14 
Mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

About Akobo Minerals:  

Akobo Minerals, is a Norway-based gold exploration company, currently with ongoing exploration and small-scale mine development in the Gambela region and Dima Woreda, southwest Ethiopia. The operations were established in 2009 by people with long experience from the public mining sector in Ethiopia and from the Norwegian oil service industry. Akobo Minerals holds a mining licence and an exploration license over key targets in the area. Economic mineralisation was discovered and the company is engaged in mining studies to advance the project to production, alongside exploration core drilling. Akobo Minerals is transforming its organisation to support an increased pace of core drilling. At both the key targets Segele and Joru the company has so far released exceptionally high-grade gold results including the Segele deposit with an Inferred Mineral Resource of 78ktons at 20.9g/t. A scoping study for Segele includes an up-front capital expenditure of USD $8m and all-in sustaining cost of USD $243 per ounce of gold produced. Core-drilling and trenching at Joru have intersected both high-grade gold zones and large wide zones near surface. The company has an excellent partnership with national authorities and places ESG at the heart of its activities - a ground-breaking community program is being planned.

Watson-Marlow is pleased to announce the ground breaking of its new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Devens Massachusetts. A celebration ceremony is being held on Thursday, November 18th at 16 Bulge Road in Devens MA at 10:00 AM. The new facility will be dedicated to Watson-Marlow’s range of industry leading products, including peristaltic pumps, tubing, fluid path solutions and BioPure components.

The Devens, MA 150,000 square foot (14,000 square metres) facility will be close to the life sciences hub in the Cambridge/Boston area. The site will incorporate a suite of eight ISO14644-1 Class 7 cleanrooms, warehousing and offices, with space for two further cleanrooms within the initial footprint. With segregated cleanroom and non-cleanroom production capabilities, Watson-Marlow’s new facility will strengthen the support the Company provides to customers in the region across its core sectors of pharmaceutical and biotechnology, medical diagnostics, and process industries.

 “The new U.S. facility is an important milestone in the Watson-Marlow company history and marks a significant commitment to serving our customers in the Americas region.” Says Andrew Mines, Watson-Marlow Managing Director, “This exciting development is bringing us closer to our customers whose purpose is to help the world around us, from advancing cell and gene therapies through to ensuring people have access to clean drinking water. Together we will continue to develop market-leading fluid management solutions to engineer a more sustainable future. A huge thanks goes to the Watson-Marlow, BioPure, Americas and Watson-Marlow Central Support teams that are making this happen, as well as to our parent Company, Spirax-Sarco Engineering who have enabled us to make such a significant investment in our future.”

Watson-Marlow is an award-winning employer and this new facility will bring significant job opportunities to the local area, with over 150 positions coming available. Production at the new facility will replicate that of Watson-Marlow’s European sites, ensuring continued product quality for customers, by using the same raw materials, components, processes and work instructions. Completion of the facility is due in late 2022, with the first products due to be shipped from the site in late Q4.

Part of Spirax-Sarco Engineering plc, a FTSE100 Company, Watson-Marlow specialises in high-quality fluid management solutions for the life sciences and process industries. This significant investment in the expansion of its manufacturing capacity will support the Company’s future growth in the Americas.

Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Group (WMFTG) is the world leader in peristaltic pumps and associated fluid path technologies. The Group comprises ten established brands, each with their own area of expertise. Together they provide leading engineering solutions across the food, pharmaceutical, chemical and environmental industries.

WMFTG is headquartered in the United Kingdom with international operations in 44 countries and employing over 1750 people globally.

Watson-Marlow is a wholly owned subsidiary of multi-national industrial engineering Group, Spirax-Sarco Engineering plc, a constituent of the FTSE 100, with strategically located manufacturing plants around the world and over 8,200 employees, including 1,950 direct sales and service engineers. 

As a leading engineering group, we have an ethical responsibility to manage our economic, environmental and social impacts, while helping our customers and suppliers to do the same. In August this year, WMFTG committed to achieving net zero carbon by 2030.

Further information can be found at www.wmftg.com