A gold refinery could soon call Lorton home, but the project, spearheaded by Eastman Minerals, needs some help getting off the ground first.
The Tennessee-based company petitioned Fairfax County last Wednesday (Nov. 13) for a special exemption to allow the refinery at 8532 Terminal Road, where it will serve “national and international clients,” according to Walsh Colucci Lubeley & Walsh land use planner Bernard Suchicital.
“The Applicant’s proposed special exception request will allow for the development of a metal refining operation that … will meet a demand for this use in Fairfax County and globally,” Suchicital, a former county employee, wrote on the company’s behalf.
The target property — a 3,000-square-foot warehouse within the Newington Business Center — is currently zoned for industrial uses. While a metal-refining operation is permitted under specific criteria, it requires a special exemption granted by the county’s Department of Planning and Development.
Under the special exemption, Eastman would import, store and refine gold materials before exposing them to high heat — a process called “smelting” — before casting the liquid material into “desired forms” and cooling, the company said.
“The Applicant’s desired operation is to produce gold bullion of 99.9 percent purity, or 24 karats,” Suchicital wrote. “The final product is stored in secured containers until it is distributed to local financial institutions via secured delivery vehicles for storage until sold to customers.”
The gold will be used to make “a variety of products,” including jewelry, medical and dental equipment, and “sensitive high-tech components used for computer and aerospace hardware,” according to the application.
Eastman would utilize equipment to mitigate pollution and emissions generated by the refinery, the company said, and would only dispose of hazardous materials in accordance with federal, state, and local regulations.
“The Applicant will work with Fairfax County staff to provide information regarding the proposed facility and its operation to ensure all aspects of mitigation are being adequately addressed,” Suchicital wrote.
Expected to operate on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with three to four employees on site at any given time, the refinery would be a “small-scale operation,” according to documents submitted with the application. However, the company intends to grow its local operations in the future.
Headquartered in Kingsport, Tennessee, Eastman Chemical Company manufactures a range of materials, including plastic, fibers and chemicals. It was once a subsidiary of Kodak before getting spun off into its own company in the 1990s.
The proposed gold refinery appears to be the company’s first location in Fairfax County, though its subsidiary Eastman Performance Films, which makes window-tinting film, has manufacturing sites in Martinsville and Fieldale, Virginia.
