Perlite factory to be located in Port of New Orleans

   IT Minerals will spend $4.5 million to establish an importing, processing and exporting facility at the Port of New Orleans for minerals sourced from Mexico and other countries.
   “The port welcomes IT Minerals as a tenant of our industrial real estate properties,” said Port of New Orleans President and Chief Executive Officer Gary LaGrange. “This New Orleans Public Belt Railroad-served site on Jourdan Road, connected directly to all six Class I railroads, is a great choice for their ne­w perlite processing facility.”
   IT Minerals is a manufacturer of lightweight aggregates and fillers for polymer-based products; construction products; and insulation, filtration, textile, cryogenic, horticulture and gardening products.
   The project will create 12 new direct jobs with an average annual salary of $34,000 a year, plus benefits. LED estimates the project will result in an additional 28 new indirect jobs, for a total of 40 new jobs in the Southeast Region.
   The company will receive raw materials from igneous rock quarries in north central Mexico coming by rail to Louisiana. The project will provide a processing and shipment point that initially will serve U.S. markets, followed by the Caribbean and the Central and South American markets.
   IT Minerals products are used in multiple industries as a lightweight aggregate or as a stabilizing filler. In New Orleans, natural gas processing will heat and re-form the minerals for different applications. Once processed, the product will be stored and prepared for export to commercial customers.
   The company’s 2.5-acre site is owned by the Port of New Orleans, which will lease the property to IT Minerals for five years, with two 5-year renewal options. The New Orleans expansion will consist of an elevated concrete foundation with prefabricated modular shipping containers serving as a base of operations. The site will serve as a manufacturing, processing and shipping facility.
   IT Minerals estimates that approximately 6,000 metric tons of product will be processed in the first year of operation, and it will produce 12,000 metric tons in the second year.