PyroGenesis Shares Jump Over 7 Percent Following New Plasma-Based Process Announcement

PyroGenesis Canada (TSXV:PYR) started the week off with a bang when it announced on Monday (August 14) that it had developed a plasma-based process to produce metal powers.
According to the company’s press release, the process will help produce metal powders that not only permits metal injection molding (MIM) at a higher rate, but also has the potential to have a bigger impact than PyroGenesis’ original Plasma Atomization technology.
Peter Pascali, president and CEO of PyroGensis, defines MIM as “small metal powder size typically used in metal injection molding,” stating 3D metal printer manufacturers are developing an interest in the product.

Pascali continued, stating the company’s Plasma Atomization technology producers powders for EBM and Laser Sintering.  “Only plasma technology can produce the high-quality powders required for these printers.”
“Several months ago, the company was approached by a number of companies who were interested in MIM cut titanium powder and whereby it became apparent to us that the appetite for this ultra-fine powder was significant,” Pascali said in the release. “We decided to pause our ramp-up phase to make adjustments to our Plasma Atomization technology in order to try and shift the particle size distribution towards this low end of the spectrum, and produce powders in the range required for such “inkjet” type 3D printing machines.”
In addition to the plasma-based process, PyroGenesis also noted that it remains on target for the ramp-up phase for its first powder production system, announced June 19, 2017.
“We are currently in the 17th week of our ramp-up phase and not only are we on schedule but we have during this period … produced other metal powders besides titanium,” Pascali said. “Most importantly [we] have developed a new plasma-based process to produce metal powders which very well may be as game changing as our original Plasma Atomization technology.
Pascali also said the company is looking to have three more power production systems operating by 2018.
Following the company’s announcement, shares of PyroGenesis climbed 7.35 percent to close at $0.73.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Jocelyn Aspa, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.