ALCORE Limited to Have Global Licence for Bauxite Refining
Sydney, Aug 8, 2018 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Australian Bauxite Limited (
ASX:ABX) (ABx) is pleased to announce that its wholly-owned subsidiary, ALCORE Limited will have global licence rights for bauxite refining using the ALCORE technology.
- ALCORE technology is designed to refine raw bauxite to produce Aluminium Fluoride (AlF3) and other valuable co-products - see Figures 1 & 2(see link below).
- The global licence will allow ALCORE Limited to build multiple plants in any locations to meet growing demand for AlF3 and associated co-products as increase aluminium smelter production and as use of AlF3 in lithium ion batteries increase demand for AlF3.
- Site construction works for Stage 1 of the ALCORE project commenced on 1 July as planned at ALCORE's pre-approved Pilot Plant site in Berkeley Vale, Central Coast NSW.
- Stage 1 is designed to produce AlF3 test samples and then produce Corethane, which is pure hydrocarbon powder refined from low-value coals. Graphite can also be refined to a very high purity for use in high-efficiency batteries.
- Corethane has been used to provide thermal and electrical power. It has 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:
"Step by step, ABx is bringing ALCORE's powerful new bauxite refining technology closer to becoming an important domestic producer and supplier of key AlF3 products for the Australasian aluminium smelters. However, in the longer-term, these global technology rights allow ALCORE Limited to produce AlF3 in any location globally. Creating ALCORE Limited as a project-specific subsidiary is expected to unlock considerable value for shareholders in both the short and medium terms."
"ALCORE Technology also produces several valuable co-products including silica fume for the cement industry and Corethane pure hydrocarbons for energy and fuel security. Upside potential includes production of pure AlF3 for Lithium-ion batteries, iron oxide pigments, titanium oxide pigments. Further potential exists for developing ultra-pure products such as high purity alumina ("HPA") for the manufacture of scratch-resistant sapphire glass for phones and computer screens."
"ABx itself continues the development of its three core bauxite projects; the Tasmanian mine, the large Binjour Project in central QLD and the Penrose refractory bauxite project 90km inland of Port Kembla NSW."
To view figures, please visit:
http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/UWW3V6N1
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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