Manufacturing news briefs — stories you might have missed

Diraq opens commercial laboratory in Sydney

Silicon-based quantum computing company Diraq opened its new commercial laboratory, located UNSW’s campus at Sydney, on Tuesday. The company, which announced a successful Series A-2 capital raise of $29 million (US$15m) last week, said the lab is “a critical step” in its plans “to leverage today’s semiconductor manufacturing infrastructure to produce silicon chips with billions of qubits – the fundamental computational units of quantum computing.” The lab is 200 square metres and provides a low-vibration and interruption-free environment for quantum measurements, with equipment for the cryogenic testing and precision measurement of silicon quantum devices with feature sets that are less than the width of a thousandth of a single human hair. “Diraq’s advantage is the ability for our technology to be fabricated using the same semiconductor processes used to make the chips in modern electronics,” said founder and CEO Professor Andrew Dzurak. “With the launch of our new lab and bolstered by recent funding, Diraq is poised to transition seamlessly from prototype development to producing chips through a standard semiconductor foundry.”

BESS for Wurrumiyanga undergoing testing

The Northern Territory government has said the Wurrumiyanga Solar Infill and Energy Storage Pilot Project is another step closer with the battery energy storage system currently undergoing testing in Berrimah. Wurrumiyanga is already operating on some solar power, with the project to provide an additional 1.1 megawatt solar array, together with a 1.75 MVA battery energy storage system providing 3 megawatt hours of storage capacity. Once testing of the battery system is complete at Berrimah, it will be transported to Wurrumiyanga where another round of testing will take place to ensure successful integration with the grid. “The Wurrumiyanga Solar Infill and Energy Storage Pilot Project will give the community cleaner power and reduce the need to rely on diesel generators,” said energy minister Kate Worden.

Tivan engages Hatch for pre-feasibility study at vanadium project

Mineral producer Tivan said on Thursday that it has appointed professional services firm Hatch to commence work on a pre-feasibility study for the Speewah Vanadium Project in the Kimberley region. Tivan is advancing development planning for a conventional salt roast vanadium operation at Speewah. Hatch has previosuly been engaged to complete an engineering review in support of commencement of the PFS. The study will assess the technical and economic feasibility of a conventional salt roast vanadium mining, beneficiation and processing operation integrated at the Speewah mine site to produce vanadium products, said Tivan, with the scope also including development of a concept design for Tivan’s proposed vanadium electrolyte production facility in the Middle Arm precinct in Darwin. Tivan Executive Chairman Grant Wilson said, “Our teams have been working in close collaboration since September, rapidly advancing the Project with subject matter experts assembled from around the world.

Carbon Rev announces new chair