History of CyPlus

CyPlus cyanides are just as closely associated with the history of Degussa as are the precious metals and the chemicals which developed thereof. Cyanides have been required since the very beginning of the company's operation. CyPlus cyanides represent a typical example of the transformations within our company, chemicals manufacturing technology and our economy which have taken place during the recent decades.

	1864 Hector Roessler, the owner of a small chemical plant at Frankfurt am Main started producing Potassium Cyanide. Some years later his plant was incorporated into Degussa AG, founded 1873. KCN was produced by melting potash with potassium ferrocyanide.
	1889 First attempts to develop a process for the production of sodium cyanide by conversion of potassium ferrocyanide with metallic sodium were successful. In the same year Degussa started producing cyanides at their subsudiary "Roessler & Hasslacher Chemical Company" in Niagara Falls, USA. For a short period of time there had been even a production in Pretoria, South Africa.
	1901 With the development of the Castner process (which reached its technical maturity by work done at Degussa), the "cyanide eggs", a product known all over the world, were produced in Degussa's Frankfurt Plant II until 1971.
	1952 Degussa built the first plant at Wesseling, Germany for the production of hydrocyanic acid which operated on the basis of the formamide process.
	1957 Sodium Cyanide Production began at Wesseling, Germany
	1970 Degussa built at plant at Antwerp, Belgium for the production of sodium cyanide solution.
	1975 Degussa built a second plant at Wesseling to convert methane with ammonia at Wesseling, Germany. This process is called the BMA process and is still in use at Degussa to produce CyPlus® cyanides.
	1990 Degussa built its plant at Mobile, Alabama, USA with a BMA process to produce sodium cyanide for the NAFTA region.
	1992 Degussa formed a 50/50 joint venture with MSI to market sodium cyanide solution within the US. Cyanco is located at Winnemucca, Nevada, USA.
	1995 increased the CyPlus® cyanide product range by special technical and engineering support. Products called today CyPlus® CCS, CyPlus® SLS, CyPlus® HYPROX and many more were introduced to the market.
	1998 Degussa opened its Canadian terminal at Cadillac, Quebec, Canada.
	2000 CyPlus® cyanides went online with the website www.cyplus.com.
	2000 Degussa branded its cyanide range of products. The registered trademark CyPlus® was introduced to the market.
	2003 CyPlus® GmbH is formed from Degussa´s Mining Chemicals Line. Subsidiaries exist in the USA and Canada.
	2007 CyPlus® GmbH's cyanide plant in Wesseling is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary
	2008 Divestment of Activities in USA and Canada The transaction comprises of CyPlus® Group's business in the U.S. and Canada dedicated to the gold mining industry. It includes a 50-percent share in Cyanco, a joint venture with Utah-based Nevada Chemicals, Inc., a publicly traded company and two subsidiaries of CyPlus® GmbH --CyPlus® Canada, Inc., and CyPlus® Corporation. All of CyPlus® GmbH's activities at the sites in Hanau and Wesseling, Deutschy, and in Antwerp, Belgium, will remain part of Evonik's hydrogen cyanide network and will continue to successfully operate in their current capacity, with a sharpened focus on emerging markets. As a world leading cyanide producer CyPlus® GmbH provides products, technologies, and services to customers in the mining industry, the chemical / pharmaceutical intermediates industry as well the surface treatment business.