Itronics Reports Expanded Benefits Of Its Proprietary Rock Kleen Silver, Gold And Base Metal Recovery Technology

RENO, Nev., Aug. 25, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Itronics Inc. (OTC: ITRO), an emerging "Cleantech Materials" growth Company that manufactures GOLD'n GRO Multi-Nutrient Fertilizers and produces Silver, today is announcing how Rock Kleen is expected to support expanded GOLD'n GRO Multi-Nutrient Fertilizer production by supplying nutrient raw materials and nutrient metals for use in manufacturing the GOLD'n GRO Fertilizers. 

Itronics says that the Rock Kleen silver/gold mine tailings processing research is showing that the revolutionary Rock Kleen technology neutralizes cyanide and recovers nitrogen, silver and gold, and base and ferrous metals and also recovers sulfur and potassium that is naturally contained in many silver/gold deposits. The Rock Kleen operations are proving to provide a whole new source of virgin raw materials. These raw materials can be supplied to the metal industries and certain nutrient raw materials can be supplied to the fertilizer industry.

Industrial mineral materials will be supplied to industries including the Construction and Ceramics industries and those that use mineral fillers. Existing mines and tailings from past operating mines will be the source of these raw materials, reducing the need to build new mines to access these materials. Rock Kleen technology could revolutionize the way some of our raw materials are recovered while at the same time reducing the negative impacts of mining on the environment.

Rock Kleen technology includes a proprietary sequence of steps and equipment in the application of an Itronics produced liquid called Rock Kleen. Commercialization of this technology is expected to permanently supply a portion of the recovered nutrient metals zinc, iron, manganese and copper, and the nitrogen, potassium, and sulfur for use as raw materials in GOLD'n GRO Multi-Nutrient Fertilizers. Surplus recovered metals will be sold into commercial markets.

In the Rock Kleen mine tailings process a percentage of the liquid from which the metals have been extracted will be removed daily and replaced with fresh Rock Kleen liquid. Testing has shown that after metal extraction, the Rock Kleen liquid is metal free and still contains its nitrogen, sulfur, and potassium content. Because of this, the Company believes that this demetallized Rock Kleen liquid will be useable as a raw material in GOLD'n GRO Multi-Nutrient fertilizers. 

Itronics' business development plan is to establish a joint venture for each Rock Kleen project going forward. In each of the projects Rock Kleen liquid that is removed daily will be sold to Itronics for use in GOLD'n GRO fertilizers.  

Rock Kleen is currently progressing through the initial optimization test work for a major silver mine tailings project. Preliminary test work completed in November 2019 provided results showing that Rock Kleen was effective in recovering silver, gold, zinc, manganese, copper, nickel, and lead from the tailings. The focus of the current test work is to optimize recovery of metals, minerals, and nutrient materials. Itronics fully expects that significant quantities of iron will be added to the metals recovered and that measurable nitrogen and sulfur will be recovered as well.

Itronics' Revolutionary Rock Kleen Technology; Multiple Metal/Mineral/Nutrient Recovery

In prior press releases Itronics has discussed how Itronics revolutionary Rock Kleen technology extracts silver/gold from heap leach mine tailings and mill tailings being stored in impoundments at great cost. It has been demonstrated that Rock Kleen recovers silver, gold and base and ferrous metals while the residual rock is sized into commercial grades of industrial minerals for sale. Rock Kleen also recovers manganese (if present), one of 35 listed minerals critical for U.S. national security. Rock Kleen neutralizes all cyanide remaining from the original mining. It also recovers nitrogen remaining from the neutralized cyanide and from the nitrogen materials used in blasting the rocks being mined. We know that sulfur and potassium (if present in the rock being processed) may be recoverable as nutrient minerals. Potassium is also one of the "critical minerals."

Novel Chemistry – Revolutionary Technology

Historically Itronics has used spent demetallized photographic liquids as an essential ingredient in GOLD'n GRO liquid fertilizers. Using its more than 30 years of experience with these fluids, Itronics was able to develop the Rock Kleen liquid. Today, the supply of liquid photographic waste is rapidly shrinking because of advances in digital photographic technology. Knowing this trend, and planning for the future, more than 15 years ago Itronics developed a synthetic equivalent which is being used to manufacture Rock Kleen and which will be phased into use for manufacturing the GOLD'n GRO fertilizers over the next several years. As the Rock Kleen technology is put into use it is expected to produce clean, demetallized liquids that will be suitable for use as low cost raw materials in the manufacture of the GOLD'n GRO Multi-Nutrient Fertilizers.

While different, the unique formulations of both GOLD'n GRO and Rock Kleen will be a result of this new 'corner-stone' chemistry, once the transition is complete. The announcement of the transition to synthetic chemistry has relieved GOLD'n GRO customer concerns about the future supply of ingredients that are used in manufacturing our products.

As Rock Kleen projects are developed and operated, the supply of the clean raw materials needed to manufacture GOLD'n GRO fertilizers will increase. Over time, this is expected to reduce the cost of manufacturing GOLD'n GRO fertilizers as compared to only using raw materials purchased from other sources. Presently, the Company purchases zinc, iron, manganese, and copper for use in manufacturing the GOLD'n GRO Chelated Micronutrient Fertilizers. The form of the zinc, iron, manganese, and copper recovered by Rock Kleen operations is expected to be suitable for use as raw material in manufacturing these fertilizers. The Company plans to buy these metals from joint venture Rock Kleen processing projects, providing substantial revenues to the projects while lowering the cost of raw materials for fertilizer manufacturing.

Itronics U.S. Critical Mineral Recovery Initiative

Manganese is used mainly in the manufacture of steel. There is no mine production of manganese in the U.S. 

Potash is a critical mineral as it provides potassium to the U.S. agricultural industry. Ninety percent of the potassium consumed in the U.S. is imported. 

Rock Kleen mineral and metal recovery depends on the minerals and metals available in the specific resource being processed.  Whether Rock Kleen is processing tailings from past mining or is being inserted in line on a currently operating mine, and the resource contains potassium and/or manganese, it will become a U.S. source of those critical minerals. U.S. mineral security has become a frontline issue as domestic vulnerabilities to foreign supply restrictions are increasingly recognized as a rising threat to the U.S. economy, competitiveness, and national security. At stake is the United States' ability to maintain a robust manufacturing sector and lead in the development of emerging technologies. https://www.energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2019/6/murkowski-welcomes-administration-strategy-on-critical-minerals .

Long-Term Objective

A long-term objective of Itronics is to become the leading Cleantech Materials producer of high purity metals. The Itronics Rock Kleen mine tailings processing line of business recovers several metals including silver, gold, zinc, copper, nickel, manganese, lead, and iron if present in the rock being processed. The Company's silver refining line of business extracts silver, gold, copper, tin, antimony, palladium, nickel, lead, and iron from discarded printed computer circuit boards. All these metals are present in the silver bullion sold by Itronics to finish refiners. Itronics plans to use electrochemistry, hydrometallurgy and pyrometallurgy technologies to separate and purify metals for sale as high purity metals. 

Additionally, as resources become scarcer over time, Itronics will be strategically positioned to benefit if the U.S. offers incentives to increase the domestic supply of critical minerals. For many critical metals, such as those touched upon here, little-to-no recycling takes place in the United States. It is often either economically or technically not viable to do so. The U.S. capacity for secondary recovery of metals has not grown much between 1997 and 2016. Itronics directly addresses these challenges by removing both economic and technical barriers. Itronics zero waste energy saving technologies makes recycling and recovery environmentally, economically, and technically viable.

Itronics Rock Kleen technology not only opens the door to a new way of addressing U.S. critical mineral accessibility but also provides new means by which to clean up legacy cyanide contaminating heap leach and mill tailings. Rock Kleen projects can provide robust economic efficiencies in recovering precious, base, and ferrous metals and mineral nutrients while cleaning the rock and making the cleaned rock suitable for use as industrial minerals.  Metal and mineral recovery and utilization of 100 percent of the tailings as a resource rather than a liability addresses long-term environmental concerns while providing cash flow to clean up the legacy issues.  The Company's technologies ensure the optimized recovery and use of metals and minerals and in so doing maximize sustainability. 

Itronics Inc. is an emerging Cleantech Materials Growth Company that produces GOLD'n GRO Multi-Nutrient Fertilizers and Silver. The Company is also an emerging "Critical Minerals" supplier.  The Company's growth forecast centers upon its 10-year business plan designed to integrate its Zero Waste Energy Saving Technologies and to grow annual sales from $2 million in 2019 to $113 million in 2025.

About Itronics
Headquartered in Reno, Nevada, Itronics Inc. is an emerging Cleantech Growth Company that uses proprietary multi-nutrient fertilizer manufacturing technologies to produce GOLD'n GRO multi-nutrient fertilizers and breakthrough Zero Waste Technologies to recover fertilizer ingredients, silver bullion, and silver-bearing glass from waste streams that contain silver, gold, copper, zinc, tin, and other metals. The Company's goal is to achieve profitable green technology driven organic growth in specialty GOLD'n GRO fertilizers, silver, zinc, and minerals. The Company's technologies maximize the recovery and uses of metals and minerals and by doing this maximize sustainability.

The Company's environmentally friendly award winning GOLD'n GRO liquid fertilizers, which are extensively used in agriculture, can be used for lawns and houseplants, and are available at the Company's "e-store" on Amazon.Com at http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=bl_sr_lawn-garden?ie+UTF8&field-brandtextbin=GOLD%27n+GRO&node+2972638011. Due to expanded retail customer interest, GOLD'n GRO fertilizer may now be purchased in Reno, Nevada at "Buy Nevada First Gift Shop", 4001 S. Virginia St.

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("Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release contains or may contain forward-looking statements such as statements regarding the Company's growth and profitability, growth strategy, liquidity and access to public markets, operating expense reduction, and trends in the industry in which the Company operates.  The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to other risks and uncertainties, including those more fully described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changes in risks, uncertainties or assumptions underlying or affecting such statements, or for prospective events that may have a retroactive effect.)

Contact:
John Key
+1 (775) 689-7666

SOURCE Itronics Inc.

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