MineCore's Terrablock Technologies International Ltd.
Terrablock concept was originally developed by NASA in the 1960s to hyper compress moondust to form bricks in an effort to construct buildings on the moon. Although the plans were ditched, the technology created by Robert Gross had more practical applications for building structures on our own planet.
The Duplex II is a machine, which efficiently and rapidly makes building blocks from earth. It has a pair of block forming molds at each end of the machine and simultaneously forms two blocks by means of two rams. The use of two molds eliminates wasted motion of the machine, as a block is formed at one end of the machine when the ram is being retracted from the other end.
The blocks can be made of composites of clay or other readily available substances. The blocks themselves have tremendous advantages over other materials. They require no additives, are energy efficient and are inexpensive to produce. Walls and structures built with Terrablocks do not require mortar. They are dry-stacked and extraordinarily strong. The final result is a wall that is structurally sound and inexpensive to construct.
The Duplex II machines will be licensed internationally and used in Madagascar to manufacture building blocks for commercial and residential structures. MineCore will work closely with local Malagasy businesses to establish local cottage industry of manufacturing Terrablocks and construct.
1979 - Compressed Earth Block invented by Robert Gross
1984 - Application filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for the "MACHINE FOR MAKING EARTH BLOCKS"
1986 - Patent 4,569,649 is assigned to the patent application for the MACHINE FOR MAKING EARTH BLOCKS", named as the Duplex II Terrablock machine
1995 - Terrablock Technologies International Ltd. acquires Patent 4,569,649 from Earth Technology Corporation
2003 - PWI acquires Patent 4,569,649 from Terrablock Technologies International Ltd.
2004 - MineCore acquires 100% of PWI