October 22, 2003

Velan has begun to ship Securaseal Severe Service Metal-Seated Ball Valves for the Rio Tuba Nickel HPP Project, in the Philippines. The contract was awarded to Velan earlier in the year by JGC Corporation of Japan. JGC is carrying out detailed design and the procurement of materials and equipment at its headquarters in Yokohama. SNC Lavalin Australia Pty. Ltd. is participating as a technical partner of JGC. The plant, scheduled for commissioning in summer 2004, will process low-grade nickel oxide ore to produce intermediary nickel products. The High Pressure Acid Leaching (HPAL) method developed by Sumitomo Metal Mining will be applied to the manufacturing process.

The contract consists of the supply of over 150 severe-service metal-seated ball valves in Titanium, Super Duplex SST and Alloy 20. Of these, 34 are being supplied with pneumatic actuator packages supplied by Rotork-Fluid Systems. All valves will be supplied with state of the art ceramic coating developed specifically for this application.

Velan will continue to support the site through stocking and supply of spare parts as well as lending our experience in valve asset management. This expertise has been gained through the supply of over 2500 severe-service metal-seated ball valves to the major HPAL and HPOX (HP oxygen leaching) plant built since 1990.

With three new projects that all use the HPAL technology expected to be awarded in early to mid 2004, we are looking forward to continued involvement in this cutting edge industry.


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