Alpha HPA progresses aluminium chemicals plans, plans Canadian facility

Aluminium chemicals company Alpha HPA is in production of battery metals precursor materials at its stage 1 plant at Gladstone, Queensland and construction of the company’s Stage 2 commercial plant is well underway, according to an investor update.

Now the company producing aluminium materials for high tech industry has turned its attention to the development of an additional high-purity aluminium (HPA) manufacturing facility adjacent to chemicals and explosives manufacturer Orica’s facility in Alberta, Canada.

Alpha HPOA said: “Advanced market signals from ongoing customer engagement indicates that timing to study the potential expansion of the company’s operating footprint into North America is now appropriate.

“Based on these market signals, the Company has formed a view on potential project capacity and has more formally commenced concept studies in co-operation with Orica management for the Canadian facility.

“To date, management has been focused on the HPA First Stage 2 Project in Gladstone but has created some bandwidth to enable some activity on this initiative.”

A Canadian plant would use Alpha HPA’s proprietary, low-carbon solvent extraction and HPA refining technology, with the plant to be developed with Orica.

While Alpha HPA’s Stage 1 facility is capable of producing 500kgs per week of HPA at greater than 99.995 percent purity, the planned $550 million Stage 2 plant is a facility capable of producing 10,000 tonnes of HPA equivalent per year.

The company said Stage 2 earthworks were progressing on schedule with retaining wall emplacement and site fill complete (pictured).

The project engineering team continues to build out in Brisbane, with a near term focus on completing the key engineering threshold which will allow for finalisation of civil design and commencement of site civil tendering packages to be issued.

Alpha’s Managing Director, Rimas Kairaitis said, “We continue to be pleased to continue to advance the business on multiple fronts.

“On the product marketing front, the expanding interest from the semiconductor and the direct lithium extraction (DLE) sectors are particularly encouraging.

“We also very pleased to be advancing concept work on a potential second large scale facility.”

Alpha HPA said it was ‘very pleased’ with the volume of counterparties engaging with the company on product qualification, with steady, month-to-month increases in both number of end-users and both size and number of qualification test orders.

Recent highlight product marketing metrics include:

• 170 test and/or sales orders received since Stage 2 FID (May 2024)
• More than 3,000kg of sales and test orders under manufacture
• 19 sales orders serviced since FID, +1,310kg @ ~ US$33/kg
• And five Letters of Intent (LOIs) – issued in draft for customer review.

The company noted the Future Made in Australia (Production Tax Credits and Other Measures) Bill 2024 recently passed by federal Parliament.

This is expected to have a material positive impact on the financial returns of the Stage 2 project.

Further reading:
Alpha HPA commits $550m to battery materials plant

Picture: Alpha HPA/HPA First Project site looking southwest, showing earthworks near completion.
Orica Yarwun to the top right of picture, lined retention ponds to the right of picture