Massachusetts metals extraction company eyes GTP

A Massachusetts company with a specialty in extracting gold from ore and electronic equipment is talking with state officials about opening a branch at the Global TransPark.

Haber, Inc., headquartered in Arlington, Mass., has signed a letter of intent with the state to lease 18,500 square feet in the GTP2 building at the transpark. Haber would install and operate two extraction lines: one for extracting gold from ore and another to salvage gold from electronic equipment such as computers.

“We know who they are, they know who we are and we’ve been talking with them,” Bruce Parson, GTP’s economic development director, said Tuesday.

The letter of intent means Haber is investigating the GTP as a possible location. The space being considered by the company is part of a shell building and would require installing offices, laboratories, work spaces, restrooms, break rooms and any other areas the company would need. The cost of the upgrades would be included in the lease price, which might not be acceptable to Haber.

Parsons declined to say what, if any, incentives the company is requesting. Lenoir County Manager Mike Jarman said he was unaware of any talks with Haber, and would not know if the county would be asked to provide inducements.

No one answered the telephone at Haber’s headquarters. The company’s Web site describes Haber as “a publicly-held scientific research and development company controlling a number of innovative technologies in the area of separation science, extractive metallurgy and medical diagnostics.

Haber was founded in 1967 and has offices in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Florida and Ghana. It has three divisions: minerals, electromolecular propulsion and minerals. The company says its minerals division controls “an array of unique extraction processes for precious metals.” It describes its gold recovery process as one that will revolutionize the mineral industry.

“Not only does (Haber) offer increased gold recoveries with faster extraction rates than conventional leaching techniques, but moreover, it does so by implementing a unique lixiviant (extracting solution) that is environmentally friendly,” the company reports.