Seed Capital Secured & Site Works Commenced
Sydney, July 24, 2018 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Australian Bauxite Limited (
ASX:ABX) (ABx) is pleased to announce that its wholly-owned subsidiary, ALCORE Limited has secured the minimum funding needed to commence Stage 1 of the ALCORE Project. Site construction works commenced on 1 July as planned at ALCORE's pre-approved Pilot Plant site in Berkeley Vale, Central Coast NSW for the production of AlF3 test samples.
Summary:
- The Research Site for Stage 1 was occupied 1 July 2018 on schedule - see Appendix. Factory spaces were cleared of components not needed for ALCORE's Stage 1 Pilot Plant, walls panelled & painted. Floors are now levelled and patched for application of reagentsafe sealants to allow engineering measurements for final plant sizing so that fabricated components and modules fit safely.
- ALCORE technology is designed to refine raw bauxite to produce Aluminium Fluoride (AlF3) and other valuable co-products from ABx bauxite - see Figure 1 in link below.
- The Board of ALCORE Limited is shown in Figure 2(see link below). Site employees have been recruited and more will be recruited over coming weeks and months as the project develops
- Stage 1 site operation budget is $2.5 million at the approved research site (see Appendix)
- Stage 1 commences with the production of AlF3 test samples and then production of Corethane, which is pure hydrocarbon powder refined from low-value coals
- Corethane has been used to provide thermal and electrical power and also been used several times as a gas-substitute in gas turbine electrical generators, and used as a diesel substitute for fuel security purposes. Corethane also has industrial applications and several potential customers have already requested test samples for their industrial plants.
- Discussions continue with governments, agencies and major companies in the aluminium industry
ABx CEO, Ian Levy Comments:
"This is the beginning of a powerful new bauxite refining technology which will commence as an important supplier of key AlF3 products for the Australasian aluminium smelters and producing silica fume for the cement industry, then develop Corethane pure hydrocarbons for energy and fuel security.
"Upside potential includes expanding the product range to AlF3 for Lithium-ion batteries, iron and titanium-based pigments and then developing ultra-pure products such as high purity alumina ("HPA") for the manufacture of scratch-resistant sapphire glass for phones and computer screens."
"ABx continues the development of its three core bauxite projects, namely the Tasmanian mine and the large Binjour Project in central QLD and the Penrose refractory bauxite project 90km inland of Port Kembla NSW. Creating ALCORE Limited as a project-specific subsidiary is expected to unlock considerable value for shareholders in both the short and medium terms."
Listing Rules Consideration
ABx notes that in the event the Company opts at any time to spin-out ALCORE through an IPO then Listing Rule 1.19 provides that: "Admission to the official list, and the category of an entity's admission, is in ASX's absolute discretion. ASX may admit an entity on any conditions it thinks appropriate. ASX may grant or refuse admission without giving any reasons."
Further, in the event that Listing Rule 11.4 applies, ABx shareholders must approve the spin-out of the securities, except those to be retained by ABx, are offered pro rata to holders of ordinary the securities in the listed entity, or in another way that, in ASX's opinion, is fair in all the circumstances.
To view figures, please visit:
http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/XK350654
About ABx Group Limited
ABx Group Limited (ABx) (ASX:ABX) started as a bauxite miner in Tasmania in 2014 & controls the Eastern Australian Bauxite Province. In 2020 to 2023, ABx also discovered Australia’s only true ionic adsorption clay Rare Earth Elements resource at Deep Leads in pine plantations 40km west of Launceston with a JORC-compliant resource of 89 million tonnes from only 29% of the mineralised outline, averaging 844 ppm total rare earth oxides that is the most enriched in the critically important rare earths, Dy and Tb, of any Australian REE deposit.
ABx has also developed a proprietary technology to produce fluorine chemicals from an aluminium smelter waste product and return the fluorine back into the smelters, thus reducing reliance on imported aluminium fluoride.
ABx has committed a large proportion of its expenditure into Research and Development and has found ways to capitalise on the main strengths of its bauxite type which is very clean, free of all deleterious elements and can be separated into different product streams using physical, chemical and geophysical methods. It has produced and marketed specialist bauxite products for the manufacturers of fertiliser, cement with high late strength for major infrastructure such as bridges and is in the advanced stages of approvals for production of metallurgical bauxite from its Binjour Bauxite deposit with JORC-compliant resources of 37 million tonnes of bauxite, in a joint development with a Chinese-focussed Australian trading company Good Importing International.
ABx is also preparing to produce fertiliser grade and cement grade bauxite from its DL130 bauxite quarry in northern Tasmania, 40km west of Launceston. This quarry is sited in the middle of the large Deep Leads REE deposit and may one day be a site for heap leaching of the REE using a low-cost, benign leachate with the same acidity as apple juice or tea.
ABx endorses best practices on agricultural land, strives to leave land and environment better than we find it. We only operate where welcomed.
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