“We want to create a dynasty,” says PyroGenesis President and CEO Peter Pascali. (courtesy photo)

Long under the radar, plasma torch maker PyroGenesis (PYR) is starting to catch the eye of investors and is counting on its green side to keep the momentum going.  

After years below the dollar mark, the Montreal-based firm's stock soared last year to a high of $ 12.14 on the Toronto Stock Exchange in January before falling back by the following.  

Also listed on the NASDAQ, they were trading around $ 7.75 at the start of the week. After losses in recent years, the SME of about 75 employees returned to profit for the 2020 financial year. 

Its equipment, which generates extreme temperatures, particularly pleased the American authorities. They are found on US Navy aircraft carriers to turn waste into gas. 

"The Navy is an insightful customer who demands the highest standards of quality and expertise, says President and CEO , Peter Pascali, in interview Business . When Quebecers realize that our technology has been made here for over 20 years, they are really surprised. ” 

Bet on green 

The company is not only relying on the efficiency of its equipment to win new contracts, but also on the global movement to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG). 

“We are positioning ourselves as a company that reduces GHGs,” says the one who owns about half of the shares in PyroGenesis. 

For the pelletizing of iron ore, he hopes to convince steelmakers to abandon diesel for the burners, in order to replace them with plasma torches, which pollute less. 

“We have a patent. The furnace only needs adjustments to make the change, emphasizes Peter Pascali. It is a potential global market of ten billion dollars. And we are the only ones doing it. It's really big for Quebec. ” 

“It's easy to install,” he adds. Steel mills could do it themselves, because they have a lot of engineering expertise. We would only have to send them the equipment with instructions and they would do the installation themselves. We could easily place large orders. ”

He notes that his technology could also be used in the cement, glass and plastic industries. The executive says that most of his product lines do not depend on government incentives, like tax credits or environmental subsidies, to be viable. 

PyroGenesis also works with aluminum smelters to recover aluminum dross. On June 7, it also announced a letter of intent for the sale of three waste recovery systems to an existing customer. If it goes ahead, this contract will be worth $ 10 to $ 15 million ($ M). 

Diversification 

Created in the 1990s, the SME has also diversified its activities. It is working with HPQ Silicon Resources, in which it is a shareholder, to transform quartz into sublimated silica using a plasma reactor, in order to reduce hazardous waste and GHG emissions. Silicon is found in particular in the manufacture of solar panels and electric batteries. 

It also supplies plasma atomized metal powders that can be used for 3D printing, as well as in fields such as aerospace and biomedical. 

PyroGenesis will also make its entry into renewable gas with the purchase of Montreal-based SME AirScience Technologies (AST) for $ 4.8 million. AST manufactures systems to recover biomethane, generated by organic waste in landfills and farms. “This gas is transformed into electricity or heat, but AST is developing a process to make hydrogen, which has a higher value,” argues Peter Pascali. 

He specifies that with an order book which has tripled during the last quarters, a minimal debt and liquidity of approximately $ 25 million, PyroGenesis has the assets to stand out. “We want to create a dynasty,” says enthusiastically the man who has headed the company for nearly 30 years.