Australian Vanadium Limited (ASX:AVL) finally received a $973,000 Research and Development (R&D) tax refund from the Australian Federal Government for the 2019/20 tax year.
Administered jointly by the Australian Taxation Office and the Department of Industry, Science, and Resources, the self-assessment scheme encourages Australian companies to participate in eligible R&D development activities with a tax incentive scheme.
As an emerging vanadium producer, AVL develops and manufactures Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries, which are more sustainable and reliable than regular batteries.
AVL’s R&D work also includes metallurgical testing, an ongoing project with an upcoming key pilot program.
Vanadium production goals
Aside from the Federal Government’s R&D tax offset, AVL also received a $5 million R&D grant through the Australian Cooperative Research Projects (CRC-P) in February 2020.
The R&D grant will allow AVL to improve its existing vanadium production technologies and devise ways to minimise the battery’s environmental footprint minus the performance sacrifices.
In line with the company’s goals, AVL partnered with the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), Curtin University, and industry partners AMEC Foster Wheeler Australia Pty Ltd (Wood Group) and AMMTEC Laboratories (ALS).
The partnership’s four areas of focus are as follows:
- Production of ultra-high purity vanadium oxides for vanadium electrolyte and speciality chemical application.
- Utilisation of advanced leaching and separation technologies to improve mining and conversion costs.
- Improvement of standard vanadium unit operation.
- Recovery and upgrade of by-products and coproducts in vanadium processing.
