MEDICINE HAT, Alberta—Cancarb Ltd. has completed the sixth unit expansion at its thermal carbon black production facility in Medicine Hat.
The $31.7 million ($40 million Canadian) expansion increases capacity for its Thermax brand of thermal carbon black products to 54,000 metric tons per year.
The project came in on budget, Cancarb said. It originally was expected to be completed by the summer of 2020.
More than 50 different contractor groups worked on the project, totaling more than 110,000 man hours, project manager Jerimy Chisholm said in a release. An average of 40 contractors were on site each day during construction, most of which was done under restricted conditions to prevent transmission of COVID-19. Construction was completed without any serious injuries or incidents, Chisholm said.
The majority of the work was completed utilizing local contractors, with much of the specialized equipment, structural steel and piping being fabricated locally, Cancarb said.
"The new unit provides Cancarb with an additional 9,000 (tons) of capacity to serve our global customer base and gives us significant operational flexibility to maintain our other five units while pursuing new growth," Chisholm said. "I would like to extend our gratitude to all of the project team, suppliers, contractors and Cancarb employees that made this a successful and safely completed project."