O
ver the past three years
Australian Bauxite has been
assisting ROIL’s commercial and
technological development.
ROIL has granted it exclusive global
rights for the reining of bauxite to produce
aluminium luoride and coproduct oxides of
aluminium, silicon, iron and titanium from
the bauxite.
Another by-product is corethane gas from
the reining of coal to provide electrical
power, heating and cooling for the bauxite
reining plant so it has energy security.
Australian Bauxite will also get exclusive
global marketing rights for all aluminium
luoride and related coproducts produced by
other ROIL technology projects unrelated to
Australian Bauxite in Australasia and Asia.
Should the HoA turn to a full agreement,
Australian Bauxite will issue ROIL 1.4
million Australian Bauxite shares.
ROIL owns Berkeley Process
Technologies, which owns the patent for the
Ores to Elements process, also known as
the Core process, that involves the reining
of various ore types using a combination of
luorine acids and related thermal energy
process steps.
Australian Bauxite helped ROIL inalise
and lodge the patent application so the
Alcore project could proceed.
he Alcore project will apply the Core
process to reine bauxite ore containing
aluminium, iron, silica and titanium for
the low energy, low emissions production
of aluminium luoride and coproducts
including very pure forms of silica, iron
oxide and titanium oxide.
Alcore is planned to be developed in two
stages.
he irst stage involves development of an
engineering evaluation plant that is expected
to cost between $12.5 million and $16 million.
Stage two is the construction of a 50,000
tonne per annum production plant, which is
expected to cost $50 million.
he Alcore process uses three reagents.
One is H2SiF6, also known as FSA, which isused to luoridate water supplies. he second
is hydroluoric acid and the third is water.
he process involves grinding the bauxite
and minor coal and adding the reagents.
All minerals are dissolved by the reagents,
forming metal luorides. hese luoride
species are sequentially precipitated as metal
luorides or pure oxide to release luorine
chemicals for recycling of the reagents.
Designing and costing of the evaluation
plant is underway and inal results of that are
expected by the end of February.
Marketing samples for otake contracts
are expected to be ready between September
and November and a bankable feasibility
study for the 50,000tpa plant is due in the
irst quarter of 2019.
Should all go to plan, the production plant
will be commissioned by the end of 2019.
According to Australian Bauxite, the
Alcore project will transform its bauxite,
which is worth US$50 a tonne, into a suite of
products worth more than US$800 per tonne
of bauxite.Bauxite battery
project mooted
Bauxite producer Australian Bauxite has finalised a heads of agreement with
Refined Ore Industries Limited for a project to develop bauxite aluminium
fluoride, which is used in aluminium production and lithium-ion batteries.
http://www.miningmonthly.com December 2017 AMM 23
NEWSHow Australian Bauxite envisages the Alcore process working.