Australian Strategic Materials Ltd (ASX:ASM) has confirmed the commercial scalability of its innovative metallisation process by producing 120 kilograms of titanium copper alloy with 99.5% purity at its facility in South Korea.
ASM’s Ziron Tech team produced two 60 kilogram runs of the titanium copper alloy at a daily rate equivalent to about 1,000 kilograms.
This result is significantly above the targeted 250 kilograms per day production rate, outlined in the agreement between ASM and Dongkuk Refractories and Steel Co Ltd (DK R&S).
Key to the successful demonstration of commercial scalability were improvements to ASM’s unique metallisation process in which the efficiency of metal recovery more than doubled compared to initial test-work in the pilot plant.
“Significant result for ASM team”
ASM managing director David Woodall said “The successful commercial production run of titanium metal alloy is a significant result for the ASM team in Korea.
“What is even more pleasing is that this result was achieved using a newly registered patented improvement to our metallisation process, which has more than doubled the metal yield.
“We continue to discuss with DK R&S how we can accelerate the development of a metal processing plant in Korea.”
Shares higher
Investors welcomed the news with shares of the company, which has a market cap of approximately $440.5 million, up 6.5% to $3.94 after reaching a new record high of $4.22 on October 16.
Woodall said: “In addition to producing metal products from our Dubbo Project in Central West NSW, ASM now has the potential to develop a significant business unit around titanium and other metals.
“This provides a tremendous foundation for ASM and its shareholders.”
To accelerate larger metals plant
The test-work confirms ASM’s ability to produce any type of titanium alloy traded in the global metal market.
This increase in efficiency was delivered while maintaining the environmental advantages of ASM’s low-energy metallisation process, compared to the standard industry process.
ASM will now focus on accelerating the development of a larger metals plant in Korea through its agreement with DK R&S.
Members of DK R&S’s management and technical team were present to witness the successful metallisation run using the improved process.