What makes us different How it works Zinc oxide is shipped to a solar-powered plant for dissociation to zinc powder. Zinc powder is then shipped to hydrogen dispensaries equipped with hydrolysis reactors that convert zinc powder into green hydrogen and more zinc oxide. Zinc oxide is then shipped back to the dissociation plant for reconversion to zinc powder and the process begins anew. One charge of zinc powder can be reused multiple times.
Blackstone zinc ore is ground and fumed, and water is injected into the fumes. The resulting hydrolytic reaction produces hydrogen and zinc oxide. Second-stage firing of the remaining calcine also produces matte bullion of copper, silver, lead, gold, and manganese. Sales of matte bullion offset much of our costs.
As shown in the tables below, the hydrogen value of the probable zinc reserves is $378,037,796 and the matte-bullion value of the probable hydrogen-compatible reserves is $271,608,534. The estimated total value of the explored portion of the Blackstone ore body is $649,646,330. To date, less than one percent of the entire ore body has been explored.
PROBABLE RESERVES (221,500 tons)1 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Zn/ton | Kilograms | 10x Redox2 | GGE/Kg3 | Hydrogen value |
8.5% | 17,111,977 | 143,705,23 | $2.63 | $378,037,796 |
PROBABLE RESERVES (221,500 tons)1 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Metal | Ozs/ton | Lbs/ton | Price | Matte bullion value |
Gold | 0.106 | - | $1844.00 | $42,295,276 |
Silver | 23.53 | - | $27.51 | $143,379,232 |
Copper | - | 98.8 | $3.68 | $80,533,856 |
Manganese | - | 23.0 | $1.06 | $5,400,170 |
Total matte-bullion value | $271,608,534 |
The Blackstone ore body consists of five claims (~100 acres) that were federally patented in 1903 by former Idaho Governor James H. Hawley in the name of Blackstone Green Energy’s parent corporation. A patented claim is one for which the federal government has actually passed title to the claimant, making it private land. A mineral patent gives the owner exclusive title to the locatable minerals, as well as all surface and below-surface resources. The five patented claims are the Kentucky, Ohio, Iowa, Illinois, and Oregon claims (Mineral Survey No. 1662), more particularly described in Book 15 of Patents at page 407, et seq., in the Office of the County Recorder, Elmore County, Idaho. All claims have been wholly owned in fee simple title for more than a century.
Blackstone Green Energy is a development-stage company. Our commercialization plan consists of three stages.
Pick up almost any article on green hydrogen and you’ll probably see the term “electrolysis.” Electrolysis uses electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen inside a unit called an electrolyzer, which can range in size from small home units to large centralized equipment.
Inherent inefficiencies
Unfortunately, hydrogen produced by electrolysis is neither efficient nor necessarily green. Electrolysis requires massive amounts of electricity — as much as 4½ times more energy than the hydrogen produced. If the electricity is not produced from renewable resources, the environmental costs outweigh the benefits. The Department of Energy has stated that today’s electrical power grid is not suitable for electrolysis because of inefficient production methods and greenhouse gas emissions.
In contrast, the Blackstone Method of zinc hydrolysis uses concentrated solar energy to produce hydrogen from water without the inefficient and expensive step of electrolysis. Hydrolysis allows us to produce green hydrogen at a cost less than the Department of Energy's GGE target price of $2.30 per kilogram. And because the Blackstone ore deposit contains a variety of other valuable metals (copper, silver, gold, and lead), which are produced as a matte-bullion byproduct of the Blackstone Method, our net production cost is actually -$1.48 per kilogram.