ABx Group (ASX: ABX) has hit a significant milestone in its ALCORE project, bringing the company closer to commercialising a breakthrough process that recovers valuable hydrogen fluoride from aluminium smelter waste. This progress isn’t just a technical win—it signals ABx’s move to capture a niche in high-value hydrogen fluoride production from recycled materials. The achievement aligns with ABx’s strategy to meet the demand for locally sourced, sustainable industrial compounds, potentially positioning the company for a valuation boost as it progresses toward full-scale operations.
The heart of this milestone lies in ALCORE, ABx’s 83%-owned subsidiary, which has now reached an impressive 97% fluorine recovery rate using its newly optimised pilot batch reactor. This recovery rate is a step up from a previous high of 93% and has strengthened confidence in the scalability of ALCORE’s proprietary technology. For a market reliant on imports for high-purity fluorine compounds, this success hints at a cost and supply advantage, with ABx Group well-positioned to address this unmet demand domestically.
Breaking Down the ALCORE Process Success
The latest success from ALCORE’s reactor is due to a two-stage process, achieving an 85% recovery rate in the first stage alone—a record for single-stage recovery in this application. The two-stage process, refined through extensive testing, brought the recovery rate up to 97% following manual processing in a separate furnace. This approach will be pivotal in ALCORE’s continuous pilot plant, marking the next phase of the scale-up.
Based on this success at ALCORE’s Technology Centre on the NSW Central Coast, ABx has not only pushed technical boundaries but gained critical insights into process variables. By fine-tuning elements such as particle size, reactor temperature, and acid concentration, ABx has enhanced the process control and efficiency of the recovery system. ABx Group’s Managing Director and CEO, Mark Cooksey, celebrated this milestone, stating: “I am thrilled to see ALCORE deliver such stellar results with near-complete recovery of fluorine from aluminium smelter bath. Additionally, the fact the results validated our theories demonstrates that ALCORE has an exceptionally strong understanding of the process, giving great confidence for ongoing scale-up.”
Path to Commercialisation and Strategic Positioning
ABx’s commercialisation strategy appears to be on track, with a continuous pilot reactor phase slated for deployment. If this continuous reactor meets expectations, ABx could soon transition from pilot testing to commercial production, setting the stage to produce hydrogen fluoride from recycled aluminium smelter bath on a larger scale. The project represents a rare opportunity in an industry with high technical barriers to recycling aluminium by-products, offering investors a potential gateway into a niche but growing market.
ABx’s ALCORE project holds unique strategic significance beyond its technological achievement. By establishing a domestic source of hydrogen fluoride and aluminium fluoride, ABx could reduce Australia’s reliance on imports of these essential compounds. As global manufacturing, particularly in electronics and pharmaceuticals, requires steady supplies of hydrogen fluoride, ABx’s project offers both competitive and ESG advantages through a sustainable, closed-loop process.
Scaling Up in a Growing Market
With global demand growing for environmentally sound production methods that minimise dependency on newly mined resources, ABx’s technology could become a key player in the fluorine market. The consistent 97% fluorine recovery rate signals that ALCORE’s reactor technology can potentially meet commercial production requirements while maintaining high levels of resource efficiency.
ABx’s next move will be the rollout of the continuous reactor, designed to build on the two-stage method’s strengths seen in the batch process. If successful, this could lead to greater throughput and even more consistent results. For ABx, the success of this phase could pave the way for larger-scale partnerships or even further government support beyond the $7.6m Modern Manufacturing Initiative grant already secured, given the value of resource recovery and import replacement in the context of Australia’s strategic self-reliance goals.
With these achievements in view, ABx Group’s ALCORE project shows strong potential as it advances through pilot stages, demonstrating scalability and alignment with an eco-friendly, economically advantageous business model. Further updates on the continuous reactor’s performance will likely attract attention from investors keen on assessing ABx’s near-term prospects in revenue generation and commercial viability. ABx is positioning itself to address a significant market need with an environmentally friendly solution, and should the continuous reactor live up to its promise, ABx may soon have a commercially viable process for domestic hydrogen fluoride production—an outcome with clear implications for the company’s value and market standing.
