A Commitment to the Future – World’s largest tube press installation opens at Rocks
St Austell, September 26, 2008. A £20 million project to build the largest clay tube press and dryer of its kind in the world is to be officially opened by Imerys at its Rocks site near Bugle (Friday 26th September). This new facility is at the heart of the reorganisation of the china clay business in Cornwall giving Imerys important energy savings.
The creation of the new tube presses and dryers at Rocks is Imerys’ largest scale construction project for many years and represents the china clay company’s commitment to investing in the future of its operations in Cornwall.
The new dryers will enable Imerys to improve the energy efficiency and sustainability of their mining operations in Cornwall and to remain competitive in the world market place for kaolin.
Imerys’ UK Operations Director Ashley Shopland said: “The new drying facility at Rocks forms a major part of our £35 million UK investment plan to change the way that we work in order to remain competitive in the global marketplace for kaolin.”
Building and commissioning of the new state-of-the-art clay drying facility and associated heat, power and effluent treatment plants have taken just over a year to complete and have involved the services of more than 40 companies, many of which have been local contractors.
Handling Imerys’ UK output for the paper industry, which is approaching 50 per cent of the company’s china clay production in Cornwall, the new Rocks presses and dryers replace smaller ageing plants at Bugle and Burngullow and will operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The bulk of the clay product will be moved by rail to the Company’s Port of Fowey for export shipment.
To mark the official opening of the new facility Dr Richard Bown, the former Chief Technology Officer for Imerys, until his retirement in 2007, unveiled a commemorative plaque. He said: “It is a tremendous honour to be invited back by Imerys to see the completion of the plant equipment that I saw progressing through the design and prototype stages during my time with the company. Imerys is a world leader within the china clay industry for their development of cutting-edge technology and processes and I am confident that this significant investment will not only deliver an important boost to their operations in Cornwall but will help them maintain their position as industry leaders.”
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June 6, 2008
