Impact Minerals confirms scalable path to high-purity alumina with Lake Hope PFS

A pre-feasibility study (PFS) for Impact Minerals’ (ASX: IPT) $259 million Lake Hope high-purity alumina (HPA) project in Western Australia has demonstrated a standalone steady-state production capacity of 10,000 tonnes per annum following a two-year ramp-up.

The study highlighted the project’s strong economics and outlined a pathway for Impact to become a global supplier of low-cost, low-carbon HPA through an integrated extraction and refining operation over an initial 33-year mine life.

Impact will now commence work on a definitive feasibility study (DFS) that will include the construction of a pilot plant to produce HPA samples at scale for discussions on offtake agreements.

Forecast returns

The PFS found that Lake Hope would have a forecast net present value of $1.165 billion and an operating expenditure of US$5,860/t (excluding by-product revenue), based on a maiden probable and proved ore reserve of 1.7Mt at 26% aluminium oxide for 450,000t of contained aluminium oxide.

A key sulphate of potash (SOP) by-product could reduce operating expenditure to less than US$4,500/t.

Impact expects strong margins, minimal carbon footprint and an ability to deliver 4N (99.99% purity) product without critical reagents or complex processing to provide it with a clear competitive advantage as the HPA market enters a phase of rapid growth.

Lowest-cost producer

Managing director Dr Mike Jones said Lake Hope could be among the lowest-cost global producers of HPA, potentially by a significant margin of at least 30%.

“This PFS clearly demonstrates that we are on the cusp of delivering a significant, low-cost and highly scalable project just two years since acquiring the rights,” he said.

“Lake Hope’s unique natural feedstock combined with a straightforward flowsheet offers one of the world’s most capital-efficient and environmentally responsible pathways to HPA production.”

Strong fundamentals

Dr Jones said the strong PFS fundamentals had encouraged the company to move to 80% ownership of Playa One, which owns the Lake Hope assets and intellectual property.

Impact will also focus on the potential integration of the Lake Hope assets with HiPurA processing technology the company acquired in April through its 50% equity investment in newly formed company Alluminous.

Dr Jones said HiPurA could accelerate the company’s entry into the HPA market by up to two years and potentially enhance the economics of both projects.

A $2.87m federal government grant Impact received in collaboration with CPC Engineering and the Mineral Recovery Research Centre at Edith Cowan University in October will part-fund the plant.