Broken valve delays opening of ZincOx plant

Zinc compound recovery specialist ZincOx Resources said its new Korean recycling plant is now expected to be open for business in May, later than previously expected.

Just nine days ago the company said that it expected the plant to be operational by the middle of April, but completion of commissioning is being held back due to problems in the operation of the combustion system for the Rotary Hearth Furnace which have just come to light.

Problems with the first set of gas burners were traced to a broken valve, which is being repaired. Equipment on the seven other sets of gas burners is being tested, but the company reported that two sets of burners have been successfully fired up over the last few days. When all the burners have been successfully fired up independently, a group test will be carried out. After the group test, additional final checks will be made on the computer controlled Burner Management System which includes 'fail safe' safety procedures, prior to first production.

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"We are disappointed to have to delay start up further, but it is not unusual for such unforeseen issues to arise when commissioning a project of this type," observed Andrew Woollett, ZincOx's Chairman.

"We are encouraged that the initial problems have now been identified and that the combustion system is being tested so that we can achieve a rapid and safe start up. We anticipate that production will be on track in May when I will update shareholders with further news," Woollett added.

The share price fell 8.875p to 67p in the first hour of trading after the announcement.

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