HPQ Silicon acquires solar grade silicon metal tech

HPQ Silicon Resources Inc (CVE:HPQ), formerly Uragold, on Tuesday said it has agreed to acquire from PyroGenesis Canada Inc (CVE:PYR) the intellectual property rights to the PUREVAP process for the purpose of the production of silicon metal from quartz.

Under the agreement, signed on July 29, HPQ Silicon will also purchase a PUREVAP Quartz Vaporization Reactor (QVR) pilot system to produce solar grade silicon metal from HPQ Silicon quartz.

The total purchase price is CAD 8.26 million (USD 6.3m/EUR 5.7m) in cash and stock and it will be paid by HPQ Silicon over the next 30 months.

"By unifying this fantastic technology under our brand and successfully scaling it up, we can accelerate our plan of becoming the cleanest, greenest and lowest cost vertically integrated producer of Solar Grade Silicon Metal in the world," said Bernard J Tourillon, chairman and chief executive of HPQ Silicon.

The next priority for HPQ Silicon and PyroGenesis is validating the scalability of the process, according to the announcement. PyroGenesis is a company that designs, develops, manufactures and commercialises advanced plasma processes.

A 200-tonne-per-year pilot plant will be installed at PyroGenesis' facility in Montreal, Canada. The design, fabrication and assembly phase is expected to take 12 to 16 months. This will be followed by a two-month commissioning and a 10-month testing phase. After that, the pilot plant will be relocated to a permanent production site, chosen by HPQ Silicon.

PyroGenesis will retain all royalty payments owed by HPQ Silicon under the previously disclosed development and exclusivity agreement for the PUREVAP process, payments of which represent 10% of HPQ Silicon metal sales, with set minimums, but with royalty payments being waived for 2017.

(CAD 1.0 = USD 0.759/EUR 0.690)

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