World's biggest high-purity alumina factory progresses with $20 million contract awarded to McCosker Contracting

A contract worth over $20 million has been awarded for concrete works at what will be the world’s biggest high-purity aluminium materials factory, located in Gladstone, Queensland and with capacity for over 10,000 tonnes of HPA equivalent per year.

According to a statement from Alpha HPA — the owner of the upcoming factory — the contract to McCosker Contracting is a major milestone in the upcoming “10-hectare, state-of-the-art facility” and in Alpha’s progress.

Development is being supported through a $400 million debt facility from the Australian government and $180 million in equity capital raised.

“McCosker is a respected, long-standing family business with deep roots in the Gladstone community,” Alpha HPA’s Managing Director Rob Williamson said in a statement on Monday.

“It’s fantastic to be working with the trusted folks at McCosker to help bring this world-class project to life.”

Concrete and civil works are scheduled with site establishment in early June, with physical works commencing later that month.

The Stage 2 facility will be a full commercial-scale facility, following successful operations at Alpha’s Stage 1, Precursor Production Facility (PPF) in Gladstone.

According to the company, its Stage 1 facility is capable of producing 500 kilograms per week of HPA at greater than 99.995 percent purity, with the planned $550 million Stage 2 plant to have capacity of over 10,000 tonnes of HPA equivalent per year.

It will make use of Alpha HPA’s proprietary production technology for extracting “ultra-high purity aluminium materials” using industrial feedstocks, for use in sectors including semiconductors, lithium-ion batteries, and LED lighting.

Three-hundred jobs will be supported during construction, and an expected 120 ongoing jobs when it is operational.

McCosker Managing Director Bob McCosker added that the project represented “a vote of confidence in local capability, and we’re looking forward to contributing our team’s skills, experience and local knowledge to help bring Alpha HPA’s vision to life.”

Federal support has come from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) and Export Finance Australia (EFA), as well as the $4 billion Critical Minerals Facility (administered by EFA) and EFA’s Commercial Account.

Picture: supplied

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