HPA startup FYI Resources produces 99.99% high purity alumina at its Cadoux pilot plant in West Australia

Aussie alumina startup FYI Resources has produced high purity alumina (HPA) during pilot testing at its Cadoux plant.  Trial production at the company's kaolin prospect yielded a 99.99 per cent average purity grade.

After the results, the company intends to transform the pilot production at the plant into full-scale production. The company considers the time for the pilot testing results as perfect, since Industry analysts have predicted a supply crunch for HPA with growing demands coming from the electric vehicle industry. 

“We are very pleased with the initial round of pilot plant results which demonstrated “four nines” purity in the material produced," said FYI managing director Roland Hill.

Alumina is used as a separator in lithium-ion batteries, the demand for which has been flat over the last decade. Now demand for HPA is growing as the auto industry is focusing more on electric vehicles. A report released by CRU in 2018 predicted that demand for 4N+ (99.99 per cent and higher) HPA would increase 55% every year from 19,000 tonnes to reach 92,900 tonnes by 2025.

Emerging producers and suppliers of HPA like FYI are set to leverage on the demand growth as they can produce high quality HPA at much cheaper prices using Kaolin feedstock. FYI estimated in 2018 that high purity alumina would sell for roughly A$34,385 per 4N grade tonne, creating a profit margin of A$25,382. FYI had also produced HPA with a 5N (99.999 per cent or higher) purity grade. The estimated price for alumina of this quality sits at over A$70 000 a tonne.

"The achievement is outstanding and is a fundamental validation that our flow-sheet design and our long-term strategy to refine feedstock from our Cadoux project to produce high-quality HPA is based on sound technical principles," Hill concluded.

It Cadoux plant in West Australia is in close proximity to rail, road, power and water infrastructure. It's also located within little more than 200 kilometres from the Kwinana Industrial Area. This allows FYI to mine and produce on-site and refine the HPA in a close location for the battery component industry.