Relevance. Vermiculite is one of the representatives of geo-resources that are widely used in various industries. The expanded vermiculite is obtained by heat treating of vermiculite ore concentrates in open flame furnaces. Expanded vermiculite, due to its layered-porous structure and high reflectivity, is the base for obtaining many thermo-insulating and refractory materials and products. Vermiculite is a part of building materials, and it is used to protect against radiation. Heat treating of vermiculite ores in flaming furnaces is an energyintensive process; therefore the designs of electric modular-trigger furnaces are being actively developed. These furnaces have not significantly reduced the specific energy intensity of the firing process, that is why the work on creation of electric furnaces is up-to-date. This research is aimed to develop and construct a furnace prototype of a fundamentally new design. The aim of the research is the experimental determination of operational specifications of a furnace model with a vibrating bottom platform which is a separate single-phase firing module during testing. Methods: analysis of information sources in the field of research, synthesis of constructive solutions, physical modeling, parametric and functional description, experimental studies. Results. The authors have developed the alternative electric furnace for firing vermiculite concentrates with a fundamentally new design structure which is a furnace with a vibrating bottom platform. A full-scale physical model of the furnace unit - a single-phase and single-module unit, was developed. Using the above-mentioned physical model the authors carried out the experiments and obtained the empirical data. During the experimental studies, the density of the expanded vermiculite was 90…91 kg/m3 and the productivity was 3,56 m3/h. The value of volume energy for various types of vermiculite roasting is 63,7…81,6 mJ/m3, which is almost three times less than that of existing open flame furnaces operating on hydrocarbon fuel.