Rio Tinto X ALCORE equals nationwide relief from aluminium fluoride imports

ABx Group (ASX:ABX) has set a sustainable example as the company agreed upon a lease with Rio Tinto for a waste-to-product industrial facility next to the Bell Bay aluminium smelter in northern Tasmania.

Image Source: https://abxgroup.com.au/alcore

The company has an 83 per cent shareholding of its refining technology subsidiary ALCORE, which is accountable for the construction of a pilot plant at the facility, enticing a 500-square-kilometre building on an industrial site. It proffers permits to local engineering services and suppliers in the Bell Bay region of Australia. 

ABx, with its stock market value of US$9 million, has the intent of making nominal adjustments to serve the continuity of the plant through its subsidiary firm ALCORE, which will demonstrate its world-first proprietary process to produce industrial chemicals. These chemicals comprise hydrogen fluoride from a waste product created during the aluminium smelting process. The building, in the meanwhile, has supported several industrial developments and includes appropriate utilities. 

The foundational plant has a strategic plan to transform 1,600 tonnes of aluminium smelter bath into hydrogen fluoride and other industrial chemicals every year, wherein a significant share of the hydrogen fluoride will be processed into aluminium fluoride. 

As the initial production succeeds the plant is planned to subsequently grow by 15 times, with a capacity to process the entire country’s aluminium smelter baths and supply more than 80 per cent of Australia’s aluminium fluoride requirements. 

Speaking to Mining.com.au, ABx Chief Executive Dr Mark Cooksey shared that the company has had regular discussions with aluminium companies, including Rio Tinto, since ALCORE began in 2019. 

Image Source: https://abxgroup.com.au/alcore

“We have also had close engagement with the Tasmania Department of State Growth for many years on ALCORE and our bauxite and rare earth activities in Tasmania,” Cooksey told the media network. He also said, “It took some time to finalise the agreements, as the parties are making significant commitments to the project and a reasonable level of rigour is required to make such commitments.” 

Cooksey adds that this agreement is vital as it allows ALCORE to commence construction of the continuous pilot plant in an ideal facility. “Furthermore, the support of Rio Tinto and the Tasmanian Government illustrates their interest in the success of the technology,” Cooksey says. 

Rio Tinto Bell Bay Aluminium General Manager Richard Curtis has also voiced on this note that all aluminium smelters in Australia import aluminium fluoride at present. Thus, if an alternative to produce it domestically from a waste product is discovered, it will make economic and environmental sense.

“If ABx can do this locally, that’s good for the community and the state of Tasmania, so we are happy to be able to contribute to this pilot plant,” Curtis says, adding, “With planning and environmental approvals underway, we are on track to place orders for most of the major equipment in Q1 2025.”

The location is immaculate, being within close proximity to key infrastructure while allowing further progress rapidly with minimal upfront costs.

ABx notes these advancements echo ALCORE’s persistent progress in steering its technology forward towards commercial production. 

“The key objective is to assess whether the pilot plant performs as we expect based on our earlier laboratory batch pilot plant work so that we can construct a commercial plant with confidence,” Cooksey tells this news service. 

Hydrogen fluoride is a vital chemical used in the production of fluorocarbons and aluminium fluoride, which is essential for the aluminium production process. In 2023, fluorine was officially added to Australia’s critical minerals list. Hydrogen fluoride is primarily produced from fluorspar, a mineral derived from fluorite. Fluorspar is relatively expensive and has been recognised as a critical material by Canada, the United States, Europe, and Japan.