Commercialization of Navy Invention Has Potential to Revolutionize Metal Finishing Industry

July 9, 2004

BOZEMAN, Mont. - The world’s first protective chromium-based metal finish coating that is both environmentally benign and highly effective will be commercially available later this year as a result of a license between the U.S. Navy and Metalast International, Inc. of Minden, Nevada.

The coating, called trivalent chromium protection, has the potential to replace the industry leading, but highly toxic, hexavalent chromium coating. Hexavalent chromium has been in widespread use worldwide for more than half a century, but is hazardous for both humans and the environment.

"This coating offers everything - the corrosion protection of hex chrome, without the hazard. We’re thrilled to be the first company anywhere to bring it to market," said Sjon Westre, Vice President of Technical Support at Metalast. "The product is available later this year but we’ve already got customers lining up," he said.

Strong, lightweight aluminum is the metal of choice for airplanes, automobiles, appliances, construction materials, satellites, and many other household and military products. Because it corrodes easily when exposed to the elements, aluminum must be coated to extend its useful life. In order for protective coatings to adhere to aluminum’s inherently non-stick surface, the metal must be pretreated with a substance to which paints and other metal finishes can form a lasting bond. Trivalent chromium is also excellent as a post treatment on sacrificial coatings.

Enter trivalent chromium, a corrosion prevention coating developed and patented by the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) of Patuxent River, Maryland. This compound is highly effective but far less toxic than its cousin, hexavalent chromium. In addition to being less toxic, trivalent chromium is easy to apply and costs about the same as its cousin. Many regulatory bodies, including military authorities, are responding to environmental protection guidelines and have begun specifying the use of non-hexavalent chromium coatings for vehicles and other aluminum products. Many non-chromate alternatives have been tried, but these coatings offer poor corrosion protection compared to chromates and can be more expensive. Until the advent of trivalent chromium, no effective alternatives emerged to meet or exceed industry standards.

In collaboration with the Navy, the licensing and commercialization of this technology is being facilitated by TechLink, a Department of Defense-funded technology transfer organization. TechLink identified Metalast as a leader in proprietary metal finishing chemistries, an ideal candidate for the Navy technology, and helped the company license trivalent chromium for all fields of use in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

About METALAST International, Inc.
METALAST is the metal finishing industry’s solutions provider. METALAST offers affordable process control hardware and software, full lines of finishing chemistries, including hexavalent chromate replacements, complete turnkey finishing systems, training, technical support, and free sample processing and strategy development to help improve the quality of finished parts in an effort to help companies adhere to lean production standards of increased quality and efficiency across value chains. Also, the METALAST T-REX - a mobile research and training exhibition - is coming to a city near you. Inquire as to how your company can receive a "no cost" T-REX seminar at your facility. For more information, visit the website: www.metalast.com

CONTACTS:

Sean Patten
TechLink
(406) 994-7721
spatten@montana.edu

Todd Landaburu
Manager of Communications
Metalast International, Inc.
(775) 782-8324
tlandaburu@metalast.com
www.t-rex.metalast.com

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