RE: Delays due to councils objections to Rare Earths processing?13 Feb 2022 20:14
Theorist, I have never said I know everything that is going on, but I contact the company when I can and share what I know here with everyone else.
The hydrology work that you mention that was initiated 24 August was completed end of October. The report would have, I assume, set out pipework that needed to go underground with sumps to deal with drainage before the main build commences. The plant would have identified all bleed sites in FEED documents so above ground mechanisms to deal with contaminated run off water feeding into a drainage system towards a sump that cleans the water for discharge as non contaminated water could then be piped out and this should have all been set out and this is underneath all the construction that would then happen above it. I am not an expert drainage engineer, but documents I have looked at today say its good practice to do all this work before building anything (and quite a few construction projects have not done it and faced major issues afterwards). The hydrology also have to be done again at the new site although the updated FEED work may quicken the process.
It does not make a lot of sense for the company spokesperson being quoted for the reason given as to why they moved the site, but the real reason was given later as the plan was to make the magnet facility and that has delivered the argument that more people would then be on the new site. A second issue is that the company if staying with the original site would need to store a lot of acid and other chemicals at another storage location and occasionally truck more of it in. 70% of what is in the circuit gets recycled, but it still has trucks come in and out of the original facility. Having everything on all one 35 acre site as opposed to the original 9 acres actually reduces some heavy traffic as storage and plant production is then all in one facility. Evidence supporting that idea was I think in the new planning application.
The fact is they could only do the hydrology study after buying a lease. They could not do it when deciding Merseyside, TEES or Saltend. It had to be done prior to submitting applications to DoE. The Saltend business Park was not extended when Pensana sought its original site and the prospect of hydrogen supply became more probably during the year. I should mention financing had the caveat throughout as being a target by day X or Y. They missed targets on FEED being done shortly, filing DoE applications and when they though bond funding could be raised. I would say the vast majority of us thought things would run late and hence why I have chased up the company again and you have seen their reply to me. Another factor is that I suspect PX would off set the earlier signed lease as part of the negotiations for a bigger one. Tony
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