PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Alpha HPA is on track to fully commission the high purity alumina (HPA) circuit at its Stage 1 precursor production facility (PPF), in Queensland.
The company said on Thursday that it was in the final stages of deploying the A$15.5-million grant funding awarded under the Critical Minerals Development Programme to install a small-scale commercial HPA circuit at the Stage 1 project.
The HPA circuit will expand the PPF production capacity for aluminium nitrate and aluminium sulphate, and will produce up to 15 t/y of additional HPA production capacity, between 15 t/y to 25 t/y of HPA trihydrate capacity, up to an additional 10 t/y of high purity boehmite capacity, nano HPA production to service end-users in the semi-conductor sector, and the production of HPA tablets for synthetic sapphire glass growth.
The Queensland government recently announced that it would provide up to A$30-million in funding to Alpha HPA to turn locally-produced alumina into glass for smart watches and phones.
The investment will accelerate the delivery of two purpose-built furnaces used to ‘grow’ sapphire glass at Alpha HPA in Gladstone. The units will enable Alpha HPA to produce more than 4 t of sapphire glass from HPA each year.
Ahead of the commissioning of the new HPA circuit, the Stage 1 PPF is producing 4N purity alpha phase and gamma phase HPA at small scale to support the Brisbane facility in supplying sales and product test orders.
The Stage 1 PPF is also supplying aluminium nitrate to the Brisbane facility to service end-user test orders for high purity boehmites, HPA trihydrate, and high purity nano-aluminas.