Altech Chemicals Ltd (ASX:ATC) has successfully transitioned the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for its Malaysian high purity alumina (HPA) plant to SMS group GmbH.
All engineering data and information has been transferred from the previous EPC contractor to the German engineering firm.
SMS will provide a fixed price turnkey contract and has proposed a clear and concise guarantee to Altech for plant throughput.
A week-long formal handover was completed in Dusseldorf, Germany during which incoming discipline team leaders were extensively briefed by their respective outgoing counterparts and Altech.
Importantly, key-person engineering personnel continue to be available to assist the SMS/Altech team and ensure efficient and complete information handover.
Iggy Tan, managing director, commented: “SMS’s immediate focus is to provide an indicative EPC fixed price so that Altech can proceed to finalise its export credit finance (ECA) application, which we are aiming to do by the end of the current quarter.
“SMS has extensive experience with German ECA cover and is amongst the top three users of this facility in Germany, so it is very familiar with the export credit approval process.”
Project background
Altech has completed a bankable feasibility study (BFS) for the construction and operation of a 4,000 tonnes per annum HPA plant in Johor, Malaysia.
The plant will produce HPA directly from kaolin clay, which will be sourced from Altech’s kaolin deposit at Meckering, Western Australia.
SMS builds turnkey solutions based on innovative plant technology, complete with buildings, infrastructure and auxiliary equipment for processing plants such as Altech’s proposed HPA plant.
The company has recent EPC contract experience in Malaysia, having successfully completed the Sakura smelting project, in Sarawak.