2nd Milestone Achieved. ALCORE Lab Lock-Up Stage Completed
Sydney, Dec 3, 2018 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Australian Bauxite Ltd (
ASX:ABX)(A7B:FRA) (ABx)'s wholly-owned subsidiary, ALCORE Limited has acquired the equipment needed to produce test samples of key products and constructed the Stage 1 Core Laboratory to lock-up stage, thus staying ahead of schedule and within budget.
An Open Day for seed investors was held last Wednesday 28 November. A video of construction made by members of the ALCORE team showing development of of the Lab can be seen at Australianbauxite.com.au/Interviews&News.htm and photos below show some images from the Open Day.
- ALCORE's patent (pending) application technology is designed to refine raw bauxite to produce Aluminium Fluoride (AlF3) and other valuable co-products including the Corethane gas-substitute - see Figures 1 & 2. AlF3 is a key electrolyte ingredient in aluminium production by 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 and design 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 large gas turbine for 14 months and achieve accreditation as a turbine fuel to generate electricity, with very low CO2 emissions similar to natural gas.
- 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's production of Corethane hydrocarbon can change the energy supply and fuel security outlook for eastern Australia"
ALCORE Limited is expected to unlock considerable value for shareholders in the short and medium term."
Achieving another milestone ahead of schedule has taken an extreme effort by many ALCORE staff, which has given us the confidence to overcome any unexpected obstacles that may arise."
"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."
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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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