The Board of Alpha HPA Limited has executed binding, definitive agreements with Orica Australia in respect of Alpha HPA’s First Project in Gladstone, Queensland.

The agreement relates to the supply of process reagents and the offtake of process by-product to/from Alpha HPA’s First Project and Orica’s Yarwun manufacturing facility within the Gladstone State Development Area in north Queensland.

The nature of the HPA First Project process is such that the use of reagents and the manufacture of by-product is highly complementary to the existing processes in operation at the Orica Yarwun facility, Alpha HPA says. The agreements secure the commitment from both Orica and Alpha to leverage the process synergies to unlock the value from both companies’ projects, it added.

The agreement comprises a Project Implementation Agreement, which describes the capital investment obligations of the parties and the scope for project commissioning and reagent and by-product validation trials. This includes the construction of the full-scale HPA First Project by Alpha HPA and, for Orica, the construction of the piping, tankage and process controls required to deliver reagents to, and receive by-product from the HPA First project.

The agreement confirms a 10-year initial term with an optional extension of 10 years by mutual agreement.

Alpha HPA’s First Project represents the commercialisation of the production of circa-10,000 t/y equivalent of high-purity alumina and related products using the company’s proprietary licensed solvent extraction and HPA refining technology. The technology provides for the extraction and purification of aluminium from an industrial feedstock to produce 4N (>99.99% purity) alumina for the intended use within the lithium-ion battery and LED lighting industry.