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(Sharecast News) - Firering Strategic Minerals announced the start of quicklime production at its Limeco project in Zambia on Wednesday, following the successful firing of its first gasifier and Kiln 1.
The AIM-traded company said it aimed to ramp up phased production to between 600 and 800 tonnes per day by the end of 2025 as it advanced its objective of becoming Zambia's largest quicklime producer.
It said the development followed the commissioning of Kiln 1 in December and the first gasifier in January.
The gasifier had been operating consistently since 10 February, enabling the company to begin refiring the kiln with crushed limestone.
Firering said the calcination process, which involves heating limestone to about 1,000 degrees Celsius, would produce high-quality calcium oxide, or quicklime, over a seven to nine hour cycle.
It said it expected an initial optimisation period of around 30 days to refine production quantity and quality.
A key milestone in the project was the conversion of the fuel source for all eight kilns from heavy fuel oil to gasification, which the board said was expected to improve efficiency and significantly reduce operating costs.
Each kiln was designed to produce up to 100 tonnes of quicklime per day, operating continuously with minimal downtime for scheduled maintenance.
"Last week's achievements of firing the gasifier and Kiln 1, were significant milestones," said chief executive officer Yuval Cohen.
"The gasifier has been running successfully since 10 February and Kiln 1 will be refired later this week at which point the first quicklime will be produced and announced within days.
"This will be followed by an estimated 30-day optimisation period."
Cohen described it as a "key step" towards achieving full-scale operations across all eight kilns by the end of 2025.
"Once at steady-state production - 100 tonnes of quicklime per kiln per day - Limeco will produce over 200,000 tonnes annually, establishing itself as one of Zambia's largest quicklime producers and an important supplier to the growing copper industry in the Central African Copperbelt."
At 1407 GMT, shares in Firering Strategic Minerals were up 1.42% at 5.38p.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
