Company will 'mine' platinum in Burke County

Nearly 200 years ago, miners in Burke County hunted for gold.
Soon a different kind of mining operation will expand in Burke County with its sights on another precious metal: platinum.
As VSA LLC expands, it will add at least 40 new jobs and invest $2.6 million to renovate and equip a vacant industrial facility.
VSA LLC already is in the process of moving from its current site on Dugout Circle near Bi-Lo into the old Rexnord building just off I-40's Exit 98, about 10 miles west of downtown Morganton.
VSA has perfected a process — used nowhere else in the United States, according to the company — to reclaim what's called "PGM" (platinum group metals) from automobiles' catalytic converters. Among those metals are palladium currently priced at $475 per ounce, platinum selling for $1,760 per ounce and rhodium worth a whopping $2,400 per ounce.
The rare metals in a catalytic converter coat small beads or a ceramic mesh. When exhaust fumes pass over the hot metal, a chemical reaction breaks the noxious gases down into carbon dioxide, nitrogen and water. Unlike some chemical reactions, the process doesn't consume the catalysts.
Ten catalytic converters, depending on size and style, contain about one troy ounce of platinum and/or up to a half-ounce each of rhodium and palladium. The amounts may seem small, but there are approximately 250 million catalytic converters on U.S. passenger vehicles.
VSA has contracts or alliances with companies who will provide it with converters. VSA will extract the precious metals and sell them to a dealer. VSA or its other partners will recycle all bi-products, such as steel, silica and alumina.
VSA came to Morganton in 2002. Between 2004 and 2008 the company worked on developing new methods to recycle catalytic converters. In 2008 it put a pilot production line into operation.
VSA's Morganton plant manager is John Patrick. The director of operations is Jeff Vinitsky. The financial director is Alex Styagov.
Styagov said VSA currently operates with about 16 temporary workers, but it will begin hiring permanent employees this month and add more when production lines are ready. VSA told city and county officials it will create at least 40 new jobs in 2010. Styagov said Wednesday he expects there will be more than that by year's end.
The average wage will be $30,368 plus benefits, according to information the company provided to Burke County and Morganton public officials. Styagov said VSA will look for semi-professional people to operate machines and furnaces. A mechanical background will be a plus for any applicant, he added.
There will be on-the-job training, Styagov said, because the reclamation process is new.
VSA will spend more than $1 million on renovating the 30-year-old former Rexnord building. The 240,000-square-foot structure has stood vacant since 2003 when Rexnord closed its manufacturing operation, idling about 160 workers. The roof, interior and HVAC systems have deteriorated and need replacement. Lighting and electrical systems also need upgrades.
VSA took a three-year lease on 101,000 square feet with an option to buy the facility. Its existing plant on Dugout Drive has less than a third that space.
The building is on the county's tax rolls with a valuation of $3.18 million. The tax office estimates the renovation will increase that to approximately $4.2 million.
VSA also expects to spend $1.6 million for new equipment.
To help defray its costs, VSA applied for a $480,000 Building Reuse & Restoration Grant from the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center. The grant is calculated at up to $12,000 for each new job.
The grant also requires a 3 percent local match. The Morganton City Council on March 1 and the Burke County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday each agreed to provide $7,200.
N.C. Rural Development's decision on awarding the grant is expected by April 28.