5N Plus Inc. (TSX: VNP) a leading producer of engineered materials, today announced expansion of capacity and capability in its upstream activities across South East Asia and Europe to further enhance the Company’s competitive access to specialty metals which are key ingredients in its products and a notable pass-through component of cost of goods sold. The expansion will increase the Company’s capacity for production of specialty metals by more than 2000 metric tons per year. The enhanced capabilities will provide more flexibility and better yields in extracting the essential metals from more diverse secondary streams while extending the Company’s reach into the recovery of precious metals. The construction and commissioning phase of the investment is expected to take a year to complete. 

In 2016, the Company articulated its strategic plan 5N21, supported by three major pillars. This investment is succinctly aimed at supporting the second pillar of the plan which is to apply the Company’s metallurgical know-how to move upstream and extract essential metals from secondary streams in order to competitively support the metal demands of the downstream businesses. The investment associated with this project is expected to remain within the 5N21 investment envelop which for the total duration of the plan shall remain at the overall rate of depreciation. This investment will further improve the affected facilities environmental performance to ensure sustainability and compliance on these sites.

Mr. Pascal Coursol, Vice President, Recycling, Refining and Corporate R&D, commented “Given the Company’s deep pool of metallurgical know-how along with the appropriate asset base we are absolutely convinced that 5N Plus can extract more value from the procurement and treatment of metals utilized in its various businesses.” Mr. Coursol added “We are excited about the possibilities this investment will enable and we view it as a key step to be taken as we move to extract more value from our current business and growth opportunities.”

About 5N Plus Inc.

5N Plus is a leading producer of engineered materials. Fully integrated with closed-loop recycling facilities, the Company is headquartered in Montreal, Québec, Canada and operates manufacturing facilities and sales offices in several locations in Europe, the Americas and Asia.  5N Plus deploys a range of proprietary and proven technologies to produce products which are used in a number of advanced pharmaceutical, electronic and industrial applications. Typical products include purified metals such as bismuth, gallium, germanium, indium, selenium and tellurium, inorganic chemicals based on such metals and compound semiconductor wafers. Many of these are critical precursors and key enablers in markets such as pharmaceutical, healthcare, renewable energy, aerospace, security and sensing, imaging, technical and industrial materials, extractive and catalytic materials, and animal feed additive industries.