Materion Corporation (NYSE:MTRN) announced today that it is
significantly increasing capacity to produce beryllium hydroxide using
the bertrandite ore reserves at the Company’s mine in the Topaz-Spor
Mountain area of western Utah. The Materion mine is the largest known
operational source of bertrandite ore, which is the most abundant source
of beryllium.
Materion currently supplies more than 40% of the world beryllium market
and more than 70% of the freshly mined beryllium, the balance coming
from inventories stockpiled by others in the past. Over the next two to
three years, stockpiled sources of beryllium supply are expected to
decline, and Materion will be able to increase supply to fill the void.
Materion has proven reserves of 6.25 million tons of bertrandite ore in
its Utah mine, that, at current beryllium hydroxide rates of production,
would support more than 70 years of operation. The property may also
contain another 6.15 million tons of bertrandite ore in undeveloped
reserves.
“Expanding capacity is one of several actions we are taking to put us in
a position to respond quickly as global supplies of beryllium decrease,”
said Glenn Maxwell, President, Performance Metals Group. “These
initiatives include methods that shorten the time it takes to develop a
pit for excavation and incrementally increase production from our
refinery. Our sophisticated mining software allows us to find ore with
higher levels of confidence and design pits that enable us to extract an
increased proportion of useable ore at shallower and easier to excavate
levels, and at lower costs than in the past.” The capital requirement
for the increased capacity fits within the normal annual expenditures of
the Company.
Materion is the world’s only mine-to-mill integrated beryllium producer,
providing an assured, long-term source of beryllium. The beryllium
hydroxide from the Utah refinery is shipped to Materion’s Elmore, Ohio,
facility, which produces metallic beryllium, beryllium alloys and
beryllium hydroxide ceramic feedstock.
Materion Corporation is headquartered in Mayfield Heights, Ohio. The
Company, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, supplies highly
engineered advanced enabling materials to global markets. Products
include precious and non-precious specialty metals, inorganic chemicals
and powders, specialty coatings, specialty engineered beryllium alloys,
beryllium and beryllium composites, and engineered clad and plated metal
systems.
Copyright Business Wire 2013