QEM installs vanadium, aluminium pilot plant

Energy and vanadium pentoxide producer QEM Ltd has successfully commissioned a pilot plant to test the production of oil shale and vanadium pentoxide from resources at the Julia Creek Project in north western Queensland.

The pilot plant (pictured) was installed at the Melbourne headquarters of HRL Technology Group and will operate for six months, prior to the construction of a commercial demonstration plant.

Vanadium pentoxide is used in steel making and is seeing increasing use in energy storage batteries as an electrolyte.

The company will also test the extraction of high purity alumina (HPA), also a critical battery metal, which has been identified at a material volume in the Julia Creek resource.

QEM managing director Gavin Loyden said the commissioning of the pilot plant continued the progression of the resource and the latent value that can be captured by the company.

Loyden said: “Crucially the potential HPA upside recently identified will be incorporated into our original bench scale test work programme schedule cost-effectively and without timing delays to the core of our programme.”

The pilot plant equipment was manufactured in India by specialist continuous reactor maker AMAR.

Picture: QEM managing director Gavin Loyden, at left during pilot plant installation

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