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Applications of I.S.T. Technology

I.S.T. does not sell its equipment. It only enters into joint ventures. In some cases, it may lease its equipment, depending on the application. All lease operations would include one or more of our technicians monitoring and overseeing the application.

Mining: Gold, Silver, Precious Metals - such as platinum group metals (PGMs), diamonds and other gems - I.S.T. technology micronizes the preground raw ore and then concentrates minerals by their specific gravity. Typical mining equipment first screen the mineral ore after the grinding process. The ore is then either separated with gravity table or centrifuge. This process increases operating costs significantly, either by losing significant metals, increasing costs, or both. After the initial grinding process to about -30 mesh, I.S.T. then micronizes (grinds) and separates the ore. Screens are applied only when necessary to remove oversize material before our grinding process. To illustrate the effectiveness of I.S.T. technology, assume you have 2,000 pounds of raw material. This 2,000 pounds would be reduced to only a few hundred pounds of finely ground raw material. I.S.T. has achieved from 4 to 20 times concentration, depending on the type of ore. This smaller ore body would have all the precious metals concentrated in it to approximately -400 mesh in size. I.S.T. technology may also be able to additionally concentrate these precious materials, depending on how the ore body is structured. I.S.T.'s technology can expose more precious metals from tailings that before were unable to be recovered. In some instances, I.S.T. technology can expose more precious metals in the tailings than was initially recovered using the old-fashioned way of mining. There are no centrifuges used in I.S.T.'s concentration concept. If the ores are complex, chemicals may need to be applied to the concentrated materials to leach the metals out into a purer form. Diamonds and other gems can be classified by specific gravity weight and shape. I.S.T's approach can achieve higher refining efficiency.

Diamonds and Other Gems - See Mining.

Frac Sand - The I.S.T. technology can use lower-grade silica deposits to produce frac-grade sand. Silica is impacted to remove or shatter imperfect or cracked granules. This process increases the strength of the silica granules. The silica is then classified according to shape and size. The classification process also improves the fracturing process by increasing the fluid flow capacity of the fractured zone and the gravel and water pack products. All products meet or exceed industry rating standards. Our procedure performs this task economically and efficiently. Capital investment is about one fourth of existing producers. Additional products from this process would include blasting sands, gravel pack (oilfield), water pack sand, and glass sands. Again, these products are of a higher quality and can command higher prices. Markets for this sand include golf courses, irrigation well pack, and other fine-sized sand that can be used for many specialized markets. The fine sand products meet and exceed A.P.I. standards.

Medical - Barium plus many other possibilities. See Barite.

Barite - I.S.T. technology can recover barite from spent drilling fluids in an economical and efficient manner. I.S.T.'s method of recovering barite is of higher quality than the original product. The purity recovered is more than 99% pure. This product is capable of meeting the pharmaceutical barium market standards. See Drilling Solids.

Drilling Solids Control Units - I.S.T. research has proven that its technology is effective in the control of solids in drilling fluids. I.S.T. can design and manufacture complete solid control units. Each unit can be designed as a standalone system within the drilling fluid system. These systems can provide many advantages to the drilling industry such as lower drilling fluid costs, longer bit life, lower disposal cost, and less environmental impact.

Agricultural - I.S.T. technology is being used for seed classification. The technology uses momentum discrimination for quality seed classifications. Applications have increased grass seed germination from less than 2% to more than 40+%. Uses of I.S.T. technology have also resulted in cleaning and classifying wheat grains by seed size and shape, which creates a value-added process that makes wheat grains more marketable to various industries that use specific types of wheat for specific purposes, such as bread with a longer shelf life. There are many other potential agricultural applications that can use I.S.T. technology.

Mica & Tantalum - I.S.T. technology has been used in a very effective way to produce almost pure (more than 98%) mica and tantalum. Both are high-value materials. This process can be accomplished with very little capital investment and a low operating cost.

Gypsum - I.S.T.'s technology can produce a fine grade of pure additive for paint bases and joint compounds. I.S.T. focuses on producing the finer and higher grade of products. Industrial uses would include food, pharmaceutical, plastics, chemical, and wall products.

Coal - The coal industry is burdened with a raw product that is by nature not generally very pure. If the impurities are not bound molecularly to the coal hydrocarbon, then I.S.T. technology can separate the impurities from the coal. In the I.S.T. separation process, the coal is finely ground and the water is generally reduced to less than 25%. The effect is to achieve a coal product that will: 1. burn cleaner (significant amounts of impurities, such as sulfur, mercury, and other valuable minerals, are removed and made available for secondary marketing), 2. significantly reduce maintenance costs on the electrical generating plant (caused by removal of silica and ash), 3. increase the generating capacity of the electrical plant, 4. actually increase the btu content of the coal to as much as 110 more btu/lb for every 1% of water removed, and 5. reduce freight costs on the water and materials removed. This process is performed very economically.

Environmental Systems - I.S.T. technology can separate hazardous wastes from the environment. Chemicals that are still in solution will still need to be treated. However, the volume of material to be treated, generally, is greatly reduced.
Waste Treatment Systems - I.S.T. has the ability to remove solids from the waste streams. I.S.T. technology separates solids for recycling or disposal and will also increase the oxygen content, allowing the helpful bacteria to flourish.