Greenvale Energy (ASX: GRV) has successfully completed the first two milestones of Test Program 7 at its Alpha Torbanite project in Queensland, with bulk sample production now underway.
The company has demonstrated successful scaling of previous test work by a volumetric factor of 40, replicating positive results from earlier programs using specialist equipment designed and commissioned at Monash University.
Test Program 7 aims to produce a bituminous product that can be independently certified to C-170 asphalt specification, representing a potential major milestone for the project.
Bulk sample production is scheduled for nine working weeks with a two-week pause for the Christmas period, targeting completion in late February 2026.
The Alpha Torbanite project has an inferred mineral resource estimate of 27.7 million tonnes in-situ across multiple seams.
Specialist Equipment Validates Scale-Up
Monash University procured bespoke specialist equipment to enable the program's progression, with all required systems now installed and operating as designed.
Test Program 6 used pressure vessels containing 100 millilitres of total material, while Test Program 7 has replicated the technical controls using a four-litre pressure vessel.
The operating conditions require custom specifications including rapid heating in a very high-pressure and oxygen-free environment, with reactions occurring at peak pressure of 29 megapascals.
Temperature must increase from room temperature to 400 degrees Celsius at approximately 10 degrees per minute, with the peak temperature held for one hour to achieve maximum reaction.
Zinc is the optimum catalyst for conversion, with these process controls combining to optimise the yield of an asphaltene-heavy product from torbanite.
Bulk Sample Production
Greenvale and Monash have extended Test Program 7's duration by mutual agreement at no additional cost to the company, with options to further extend if additional bulk sample material is required.
The bulk sample will use drill core from the Alpha Torbanite project as the source, with sample intervals pre-selected based on lithologies, bulk densities, and seam thickness to represent both the target seam and resource area.
Following bulk sample production, bitumen processing specialist Technix will conduct final product processing and support the independent certification process.
Chief executive officer Alex Cheeseman said scaling represents a fundamental technical challenge for any mineral processing program.
"The work completed to date has successfully replicated the positive, repeatable results from previous programs but with a 40 times scale factor," he said.
"Bulk sample production has commenced and will continue into the New Year, setting the conditions for independent assessment, verification, and certification—if we can achieve that, that will represent a major milestone for the company and the Alpha Torbanite project."
