Jatenergy appoints technology consultant

By Romel S. Gurky

ASX-listed Jatenergy announced the appointment of Tam Tran to its management team as a Process Technology Engineer in line with the company?s revised strategy based on licensing the Coal Plus technology.

The company said that Tran?s role is to assist Jatenergy in assessing the feasibility of using Coal Plus at potential project sites. Tran has previously provided consulting services to Jatenergy, helping the company evaluate its jatropha operations in Vietnam.

Tran is currently leading a team developing commercial projects based on R&D outcomes at Chonnam National University (CNU), and has been involved in the establishment of the Centre for International Resources Development (CIRD) at CNU. This group has developed several patented processes for minerals recovery for batteries and other high tech applications, one of which is being commercialised by Dong Bu Metals, the largest iron alloy producer in Korea. The CIRD is also currently evaluating a range of minerals projects, including coal (Indonesia), titanium (Myanmar and Vietnam), lithium (Bolivia, Vietnam and Korea) and bauxite/alumina (Indonesia, Vietnam) on behalf of KORES, LG International, Samsung Engineering / Minerals and other resource companies in Korea.

Tran holds a doctorate degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and worked there for 21 years, attaining the position of Professor in Chemical Engineering. He left UNSW in 2007 to pursue his own business consultancy in Korea and Vietnam, advising several companies such as LG International, Korea Alumina and Korea Resources developing projects on key energy materials for next generation lithium ion batteries and electric engines.

Tran has worked with several major mining companies and government agencies on minerals processing, including BHP Billiton, Lachlan Resources, Imperial Mining and May Day Mines.

Editing by Adianto P. Simamora