ALCORE Reaches 1st Milestone - December Production on Target
Sydney, Oct 15, 2018 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Australian Bauxite Limited (ABx)'s (
ASX:ABX) wholly-owned subsidiary, ALCORE Limited has completed the design phase of the Stage 1 project on schedule and has commenced acquiring the equipment for production to commence before year-end, ahead of schedule.
- ALCORE's patent (pending) application technology is designed to refine raw bauxite to produce Aluminium Fluoride (AlF3) and other valuable co-products - see Figures 1 & 2(see link below). AlF3 is a key electrolyte ingredient in the production of aluminium metal at aluminium smelters.
- Global demand for AlF3 and associated co-products continues to increase as aluminium smelter production increases and the use of AlF3 in lithium ion batteries increases.
- 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 for pre-qualified aluminium smelter customers & then produce Corethane, which is pure hydrocarbon powder refined from low-value coals.
- Corethane has been used to provide thermal and electrical power. It has been used as a gas-substitute to fuel a standard large gas turbine for 14 months and achieve accreditation as a turbine fuel to generate electricity with very low CO2 emissions.
- Corethane has also been used as a diesel substitute for fuel security purposes and is ideally suited for use as a sulphur-free bunker fuel.
- Corethane also has industrial applications and several potential customers have already requested test samples for their industrial plants.
- Graphite refining to a very high purity for use in high-efficiency batteries will also be tested.
- Discussions continue with governments, agencies and major companies in the aluminium industry.
ABx CEO, Ian Levy commented: "ABxs subsidiary ALCORE is sufficiently funded to deliver Stage 1 of the ALCORE project, thanks to strong support from seed capital investors. ALCORE's powerful new bauxite refining technology can lead to Australia's first production of AlF3 products to provide security of supply for Australasian aluminium smelters. ALCORE Limited is expected to unlock considerable value for ALCORE and ABX shareholders in the short and medium term.
"In addition to Corethane for energy and fuel security, ALCORE Technology will be tested to produce valuable co-products including silica fume for the cement industry that ABx already supplies cementgrade bauxite, as well as ultra-pure AlF3 for Lithium-ion batteries, iron oxide pigments and 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 is also pressing ahead with 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. Planning is underway for trial mining and processing testwork at the Binjour Project."
About ALCORE Limited
Australian Bauxite Limited (ABx) has incorporated ALCORE Limited as a wholly-owned subsidiary to fund and manage the ALCORE Project, to lead to the construction of an ALCORE Production Plant to produce Aluminium Fluoride (AlF3) and valuable co-products, using patent (pending) new technology. The ALCORE Technology is designed to convert low grade bauxite worth $50 per tonne into a suite of valuable products worth more than $800 per tonne. 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 for pre-qualified aluminium smelter customers & then produce Corethane, which is pure hydrocarbon powder refined from low-value coals and has been used to provide thermal and electrical power with low CO2 emissions when used as a gas-substitute to fuel large gas turbine. Corethane has also been used as a diesel substitute for fuel security purposes and is ideally suited for use as a sulphur-free bunker fuel.
To view figures, please visit:
http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/D6NFM2HG
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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