Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1355344
14 / April 2021 powderbulk.com comes with $500,000 in funding for training videos, books, and other knowledge products by authors who are scientists and professionals with considerable expertise related to this pandemic. The organization's Back to Work Safely library already has 27 safety guidelines that are available to download for free in both English and Spanish versions. The new materials will be aimed at work- ing populations that include: small business owners; first responders; workers in day care facilities, K-12 schools, and colleges; and vulnera- ble workers in the construction and agricultural industry sectors. MARKETS UPDATE High-performance pigments market to recover, reach $7.58 billion value The high-performance pigments market is forecast to grow at a 3.3 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in volume from 2020 to 2025. Demand for high-perfor- mance pigments is expected to reach 255,770 metric tons (about 281,938 tons) with market values recovering to $7.58 billion after the initial downturn from the COVID- 19 pandemic. This is according to the report The Future of High-Per- formance Pigments to 2025 by Smithers, a multinational testing, consulting, information, and com- pliance services company. High-performance pigments impart extra performance to the end product in which they're for- mulated; either through improved durability, color fastness, ther- mal stability, or heat-resistance. High-performance pigments can be organic or inorganic colors, metal- lic, or pearlescent. They can also create special decorative effects or fighting crews from Grant County helped to put out the blaze. According to a foreman at the plant, the fire originated in a dehy- drator. Employees in the building were able to escape safely and no injuries were reported. The facility uses dehydrators to produce dried potato flakes used to make instant mashed potatoes and dried potato slices and chunks for soups and other instant potato products. In February, Oregon Potato Co., which owns the Washington Potato Co. plant, announced that it would permanently layoff 62 employees as a result of the damage from the fire. A local training manager and rapid response coordinator said that 75 employees participated in Skill- Source's organized efforts to help affected employees apply for unem- ployment, look at options for future work, and get information on other resources. The plant was an import- ant employer in the town of Warden with a population of about 2,700. ASSOCIATION NEWS AIHA to develop public education on workplace infectious disease prevention The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has awarded AIHA funding for additional work to develop more public education resources regard- ing infectious diseases that can address high-risk audiences and small businesses returning to work amidst the pandemic. AIHA, Falls Church, VA, is the association for scientists and professionals com- mitted to preserving and ensuring occupational and environmental health and safety in the work- place and community. The work builds on the AIHA's work devel- oping a library of Back to Work Safely resources in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The award The market analysis company Roskill notes that the agreements between Lynas and the US govern- ment align with North America's efforts to secure domestic sources of separated rare earth materials to reduce dependence on Chinese supplies. North America has var- ious rare earth mineral resources, including the Mountain Pass mine in California. In addition to the planned sep- aration facilities in Texas, Texas Mineral Resources Corp. and pri- vately held USA Rare Earth have announced a plan to spend up to $12 million to build a pilot plant in Colorado to refine strategic miner- als. The Colorado facility would be near industry consultants and aca- demics in that area, which include the Colorado School of Mines and the Colorado Mining Associa- tion. The pilot plant will help the companies finalize supply deals, and the full-scale plant would be located near the Round Top mine in rural west Texas with full-scale operations planned to begin in 2023. The companies stated that they did apply for funding from the US military for the project, but that they didn't need the funding to build the pilot plant and didn't want to wait for approvals to move forward with the plans for the pilot plant in Colorado. Large dehydrator fire destroys potato plant A large fire at the Washington Potato Co. plant in Warden, WA, resulted in nearly a third of the town being evacuated for several hours as officials feared that an ammonia tank might explode. The fire occurred on January 21, 2021, and crews worked overnight to put out the flames. Officials went door- to-door to alert nearby residents, and more than two dozen fire-