Austpac Resources NL is confident of securing the necessary funds to enable it to proceed a full feasibility study into the development of an enhanced roasting and magnetic separation synthetic rutile (ERMS SR) plant to produce 30,000 tonnes per annum of synthetic rutile. The company is currently building an ERMS SR demonstration plant to produce at least l,500t of synthetic rutile annually based on its technology, which is an ilmenite processing technique that produces very high grade synthetic rutile by combining Austpac's ERMS and enhanced acid regeneration system (EARS) technologies. ERMS is a roasting process which magnetises ilmenite, making it amenable to leaching in hydrochloric acid, while EARS regenerates hydrochloric acid from the waste iron chloride liquors produced by leaching ilmenite. For the past several years Austpac has been operating a pilot ERMS SR plant at Kooragang Island in New South Wales. With a 3 million dollars equity finance facility arranged with US investment fund Cornell Capital Partners LP for future working capital, Austpac managing director Mike Turbott said the group was now looking for the bulk of the funds to advance to the final feasibility study, which would then lead to the construction of the 30,000t per annum plant at an estimated cost of about
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