Introduction The unique Big Creek Hydrometallurgical Complex, which includes the Sunshine Precious Metals Refinery, is located a few miles East of Kellogg, Idaho, and about one mile South of Interstate 90, near the famous Sunshine Mine. These processing facilities include hydrometallurgical leaching capabilities and separate silver and gold refining capabilities. Essential Metals Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of its parent company, Formation Capital Corporation, obtained the permitted facility due to its ideal location and for its hydrometallurgical equipment that can be readily modified to handle cobalt concentrate production from Formation Capital's 100% owned Idaho Cobalt Project. The cobalt concentrate will utilize the leaching process established at the plant, leaving the precious metals refining section open for producing high purity silver bullion and gold. Essential Metals Corporation opened the doors of the Sunshine Precious Metals Refinery in June of 2004 for custom refining services and is currently processing client materials. Some detail and background information follows. Background Essential Metals Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Formation Capital Corporation, which is a Canadian company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol FCO. Formation plans to retro-fit the Hydrometallurgical Complex to accept Idaho Cobalt Project concentrate which can operate concurrently with the Silver Refinery section of the Complex. The Idaho Cobalt Project, located near Salmon, Idaho, is a unique high-grade primary cobalt deposit, currently in the final feasibility and advanced permitting stage of development. The mine is forecast to produce over 1,500 tonnes of super-alloy grade cobalt per year, representing 3.3% of world consumption and 14.9% of North American consumption. This would make Formation the leading primary producer of cobalt in North America, offering a reliable and stable source of cobalt to a growing industry with ever-increasing demands. Sunshine Precious Metals Refinery The Sunshine Precious Metals Refinery, operational as of June 2004, is a zero discharge, expansion capable facility that continues to escalate production. The refining facility is currently best equipped to refine dore' metal and high grade silver residue utilizing state of the art processes and equipment. Under the previous operators, silver produced at the Sunshine Silver Refinery was widely recognized for the superior quality of its refined materials with assays consistently in the range of 99.99% silver. The refined silver bars were determined to be good delivery for the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, and are currently deemed as good delivery on the Dubai Commodities Exchange. A significant amount of high quality premium silver can also be provided to specific customers with a certified minimum quality of 99.999% silver. The plant is equipped to produce 1000 ounce bars, various sized cylindrical billets and silver crystal. Other products such as silver shot or silver grain could also be added. Specific requests for private label refined silver products may also be considered. Management Essential Metals has retained the previous Sunshine Silver Refinery operating management and we expect to be able to employ an experienced core operating crew from the list of former Sunshine employees. The plant is currently accepting additional custom refining clients. Our goal is to establish long-term business relationships that provide the maximum amount of customer flexibility, at a favorable overall refining cost.   Idaho Cobalt Project Big Creek Hydro Metallurgical Complex Silver Refinery Brochure (PDF) Corporate Info | News | Projects | Properties | Investor Info | Contact Us | QwikReport | Disclaimer | Home Copyright © 2004 Formation Capital Corporation All Rights Reserved.