AMCOL International Corporation Establishes a Minority Ownership Position in Novinda Corporation
HOFFMAN ESTATES, IL--(Marketwire - Jan 23, 2013) - AMCOL International Corporation (NYSE: ACO) announced it has taken a minority ownership position in Novinda Corporation, a Denver, Colorado-based provider of mercury emission control solutions. This investment combines AMCOL's 80-plus years as a leader in minerals technology and Novinda's expertise in air quality technologies, including Amended Silicates, a patented reagent for highly effective removal of mercury from coal-fired plant emissions.
Novinda pioneered the concept of a reagent for removing mercury with chemical reactions, rather than through adsorption technologies, enabling a more economical, consistent, and robust performance across a variety of power plant configurations and operating conditions. Because the reagent contains no carbon, the fly ash (a residue from burning coal) can be recycled into concrete, gypsum, and other by-products, providing a cost-effective solution to the fly ash disposal problem.
In working with Novinda, AMCOL developed methods to manufacture and deliver Amended Silicates in quantities large enough to meet the demands of the market.
"AMCOL's association with Novinda is consistent with our strategy of strengthening our position in the energy sector, one of several key global business sectors where we continue to invest," noted Patrick Carpenter, President of AMCOL's Environmental segment.
According to Ed Williams, Novinda's CEO, "Working with AMCOL enables us to meet the ever-expanding market demand for an effective, efficient and environmentally-friendly mercury removal product."
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), power plants in the U.S. emit nearly 50 tons of mercury per year. In an effort to reduce mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants, in late 2011 the EPA issued stringent mercury emissions standards (Mercury and Air Toxic Standards) that apply to every coal-fired power plant in the country, including utilities, the concrete industry and industrial power plants. The EPA established a phased-in timeline for compliance with the federal standards, with the first deadlines in 2014.
The terms of the transaction between AMCOL and Novinda were not disclosed.
About AMCOL International
AMCOL International, headquartered in Hoffman Estates, IL, produces and markets a wide range of specialty minerals and materials used for industrial, environmental and consumer-related applications. AMCOL is the parent of American Colloid Co., CETCO (Colloid Environmental Technologies Company), CETCO Oilfield Services Company and the transportation operations, Ameri-co Carriers, Inc. and Ameri-co Logistics, Inc. AMCOL's common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ACO. AMCOL's web address is www.amcol.com.
About Novinda
Novinda was formed in 2009 as a spin out of CH2M HILL to commercialize environmental technologies for the power utility industry. Seeking an economically attractive solution to remove mercury from coal-fired power plant emissions, the eight years of development and testing of the company's first product, Amended Silicates, was jointly funded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), and CH2M HILL. The AMCOL investment joins the company's existing investors -- CH2M HILL, New Venture Partners, and the Altira Group. For more information visit www.novinda.com.
