Sparc Technologies has announced the execution of a binding agreement (Trial Agreement) with Golden Grove Operations, a wholly owned subsidiary of 29Metals, an Australian miner of base and precious metals.
The Trial Agreement details the terms and conditions under which Sparc and 29Metals will conduct a collaborative field trial involving the application of an ecosparc-enhanced coating on steel processing plant infrastructure at the Golden Grove mine site in Western Australia. Ecosparc is the Company's flagship graphene based additive product.
The Trial Agreement with 29Metals represents a continuation of Sparc’s strategy of working with asset owners across government, defense, mining and oil & gas to demonstrate the performance of ecosparc-enhanced coatings in relevant real-world environments.
The climatic and physical environment at the Golden Grove processing plant, which is located 250km east of Geraldton in WA, is significantly different to the coastal environments being used for field trials with the South Australian Department for Infrastructure and Transport (DIT).
This will provide Sparc and its potential customers with additional real-world performance data which will build on over 5 years of research and development and >10,000 data points based on accelerated corrosion testing in the laboratory. Importantly, Sparc stated that this agreement shows continuing market demand from industry for better performing anti-corrosive coatings.
Sparc Managing Director, Mr. Nick O’Loughlin commented: “It is highly rewarding to see our ecosparc additive incorporated into a market leading anti-corrosive paint for use on infrastructure within the mining sector. The extensive internal test work that has been completed with excellent results will now be externally validated in an application and environment which is distinctly different from the recently announced trials with the South Australian Department for Infrastructure and Transport. We thank 29Metals for the innovative approach they have shown by supporting this new technology which Sparc is confident will improve asset performance and sustainability whilst lowering maintenance costs for steel assets.”
As per the field trials with DIT, the trial at Golden Grove will compare the performance of an ecosparc-enhanced coating with a control area coated with a market leading anti-corrosive paint.
Sparc’s key obligations, as outlined in the Trial Agreement, are to supply the agreed quantities of ecosparc-enhanced and unmodified control coatings to Golden Grove at Sparc’s cost, along with specified application instructions.
29Metals’ obligations include to provide and prepare the agreed steel infrastructure and to arrange for application of the ecospar-enhanced and control coatings at its own cost.
