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Andromeda Metals Ltd (ASX:ADN) has seen its shares rise more than 85% after telling investors it had achieved a significant milestone in its plan to commercialise production of high-purity alumina (HPA) from the Great White project in South Australia.
The company has developed a novel process flowsheet for production of HPA from high-quality refined kaolin taken from Great White, with independent analysis showing the commodity can be produced above 99.99% purity (4N HPA), at 99.9985%.
This recent lab-scale test work came after 7 years of investigation, research and metallurgical test work by Andromeda to produce the novel process flowsheet, which has additionally indicated a cheaper and less carbon intensive option, compared to other reported processes.
Specifically, the flowsheet showed that high-purity HPA can be achieved without hydrochloric acid (HCl) crystallisation of ACH (aluminium chloride hexahydrate), nor re-leaching using acid at high temperatures and under high pressure.
Demand to achieve production of HPA from kaolin comes from established eand expanding markets for the manufacture of synthetic sapphire used in light-emitting diodes (LEDs), semi
conductors, wearable tech, lithium-ion batteries and high-tech ceramics.
This demand is expected to outstrip global supply by 45% by 2028.
Acting CEO Sarah Clarke said this achievement was an important value-add for the company.
“Whilst Andromeda’s primary focus remains the development of the Great White Project, the production of HPA is a high-value and complementary opportunity,” she said.
“This latest test work validates our novel flowsheet, showing our Great White CRMTM product from the Great White Project can be used to produce HPA at an impressive 99.9985% purity.”
At 12:34 AEST, Andromeda shares were trading at 2.6 cents – a rise of 85.71% since the market opened.
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