- 01AVL-Tyfast MOU to assess oxide for LVO batteries.
- 02No supply or price commitments; qualification required.
- 03AICIS approval supports electrolyte scale-up.
Australian Vanadium (ASX: AVL) has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with US-based Tyfast Energy Corp to evaluate its planned Australian vanadium oxide products for Tyfast’s proprietary lithium vanadium oxide (LVO) anode technology and explore potential future supply and offtake arrangements.
The MOU has an 18-month term and is non-exclusive, with no agreed minimum supply volume, price, purchase commitment, or financial consideration, and any future pilot, development, supply, or offtake arrangement requiring successful technical and commercial evaluation and definitive agreements.
Tyfast is developing LVO lithium-ion batteries for heavy-duty applications including mining, trucking, construction, and defence, giving Australian Vanadium a potential additional market alongside its established focus on vanadium flow batteries (VFBs).
The staged collaboration will assess product forms and specifications, sample material, bench-scale and pilot-scale qualification, and possible demonstration projects before any commercial supply or offtake arrangement is considered.
The move follows Australian Vanadium receiving an Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme (AICIS) assessment certificate earlier this week for a key component of vanadium electrolyte, supporting its proposed expansion to industrial-scale electrolyte production in Australia.
Heavy-Duty Battery Pathway
Under the MoU, Australian Vanadium and Tyfast intend to assess Australian vanadium oxide against Tyfast’s battery-material requirements, including potential vanadium pentoxide or other mutually agreed oxide or intermediate products.
The program is expected to examine sample delivery and acceptance criteria, material optimisation, indicative quantities, and delivery schedules, with successful qualification potentially leading to mine-site pilots, fleet trials, pre-commercial supply and commercial negotiations.
“Emerging opportunities such as this reinforce the rationale for considering the potential production of higher-purity vanadium products as part of the Optimised Feasibility Study,” chief executive officer Graham Arvidson said.
“As new markets for vanadium emerge, we want the Australian Vanadium project to have the flexibility to respond to a broader range of customer requirements.”
Tyfast reports its LVO technology is being developed to combine fast charging, long cycle life, broad-temperature performance and high energy density, with target markets spanning heavy-duty industrial and defence applications.
Electrolyte Scale-Up Advances
The AICIS certificate covers a key industrial chemical component of vanadium electrolyte, authorising Australian Vanadium to introduce the assessed chemical by import or manufacture within a specified annual limit and subject to certificate conditions.
Based on the company’s current electrolyte formulation and conversion assumptions, that annual limit is estimated to support sufficient electrolyte production for approximately 2.5 gigawatt-hours of deployed VFB capacity.
Australian Vanadium has separately received an AICIS assessment certificate for vanadium trioxide, which may be used as a raw material in its electrolyte production process.
The company’s VSUN Energy subsidiary continues to develop the domestic VFB market.
The two developments broaden Australian Vanadium’s battery-market strategy across both VFBs and emerging lithium-ion applications as it advances the Australian Vanadium project and evaluates higher-purity vanadium products for a wider range of customer requirements.
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