Giant hoppers for Chemours going up at Port of Gulfport

By JOHN FITZHUGH jcfitzhugh@sunherald.com

October 23, 2015 4:25 PM

JOHN FITZHUGH/SUN HERALD
Employees of Mid South Industrial Inc. move one of the 40-foot wide hoppers at the state port in Gulfport on Friday Oct. 23, 2015. Employees of Mid-South Industrial Inc. are making 12 hoppers to go into the bottom of the 139-foot silos being built at the port. — JOHN FITZHUGH/SUN HERALD Employees of Mid South Industrial Inc. move one of the 40-foot wide hoppers at the state port in Gulfport on Friday Oct. 23, 2015. Employees of Mid-South Industrial Inc. are making 12 hoppers to go into the bottom of the 139-foot silos being built at the port. JOHN FTIZHUGH SUN HERALD

GULFPORT -- They look like space ships being assembled near the north fence of the Port of Gulfport.

Instead they are hoppers -- giant funnels -- that are being placed in the bottom of the large silos recently constructed for Chemours Co.

Twelve of the 40-foot-wide hoppers and three 65-foot-wide hoppers are being built and installed.

Mid South Industrial Inc. of Bells, Tenn., is assembling the hoppers for Continental Construction Inc. of Memphis, the company building the silos on the south end of the port's West Pier.

Project manager Jim McKnight of Continental said they're on schedule to complete the hoppers by April.

The completed silos will store ilmenite, a titanium-iron oxide mineral, for Chemours Co., formerly known as DuPont.

This story was originally published October 23, 2015 at 4:25 PM with the headline "Giant hoppers for Chemours going up at Port of Gulfport ."

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