The grant forms part of a greater $55 million investment by the Federal Government.
Impact Minerals Limited (ASX: IPT), in collaboration with CPC Engineering and Edith Cowan University (ECU), has secured a $2.87 million grant from the Federal Government's Cooperative Research Centres Projects (CRC-P) program. This grant will help fund the development of a pilot plant to validate Impact Minerals' innovative, low-carbon process for producing high purity alumina (HPA) and Sulphate of Potash (SOP).
HPA is a critical component in LED lights, lithium-ion batteries, and specialty ceramics. Production of HPA, which sits at the top of the Federal government's Critical Minerals List, is costly and complex, with the current processes requiring caustic soda leaching and resulting in a toxic by-product known as 'red mud'.
Impact Minerals' innovative approach utilises a hydrometallurgical process with salts from lake-based deposits, eliminating crushing and grinding and significantly reducing the energy footprint.
The pilot plant, which will be designed and managed by CPC Engineering and built at ECU, will validate and optimize Impact’s flowsheet while integrating Edith Cowan University's Membrane Selective Technology (MST) for maximizing reagent and water recovery and minimizing waste.
"This project has the potential to lead a step change in how critical minerals like HPA are produced, offering a low-carbon and more sustainable alternative to existing methods," said Dr. Mike Jones, Managing Director of Impact Minerals. "Our process could produce HPA at a much lower cost than current industry practices, while also generating valuable by-products like Sulphate of Potash an important fertilizer which Australia currently mostly imports."
Eugenia B. X. Phegan, CPC Process Manager, emphasised the importance of expediting the project timeline: "To maximise the benefits of this innovative technology, we will accelerate the engineering and equipment procurement process to fast-track the pilot plant's construction and begin validating the process at scale."
The pilot plant, which will produce HPA and SOP samples for potential customers, is part of a larger $6.3 million project between the parties, that will run from January 2025 to December 2027.
"By demonstrating the use of membrane technologies for separating iron, aluminum and other metals, the project is potentially transformational across Australia's critical minerals industry," ECU Executive Dean for the School of Engineering, Professor Paulo de Souza said.
"Impact's process to produce HPA is a novel approach, as is the use of membrane technology. Commercialisation of this process requires proving its technical and economic feasibility through a pilot plant," Associate Professor Amir Razmjou, ECU's lead investigator and head of the Mineral Recovery Research Centre, said.
Federal Funding
The grant forms part of a greater $55 million investment by the Federal Government for projects working in critical minerals, renewable energy and other industries.
"West Australian smarts are showing the rest of the world how to get things smarter, more efficiently, with great potential for exports and local jobs."
"We're backing Aussie businesses and that's how you create jobs for Aussie workers," Minister for Industry and Science, Ed Husic said.
"More than $55 million for scaling up good ideas is what will help drive business in the longer term."
"CPC Engineering's pioneering work filtering critical minerals has the potential to cut costs for business and also significantly reduce environmental waste."
