IperionX has reached a major milestone with the successful commissioning of its Hydrogen Assisted Metallothermic Reduction (HAMR) furnace, marking the first titanium de-oxygenation production run at its Virginia manufacturing campus.
The debut production run represents a critical technological advancement for IperionX, showcasing a +60x increase in titanium production capacity, the ASX-listed company said in a media release.
“Today, we demonstrated that our HAMR technology works at commercial scale,” said Anastasios Arima, CEO of IperionX.
He continued, “We successfully increased the furnace production capacity by approximately 60 times and produced high-performance titanium that exceeds industry quality standards.”
The titanium produced, made entirely from 100 per cent scrap titanium (Ti-6Al-4V alloy, Grade 5), showed a substantial reduction in oxygen levels from 3.42 per cent to below 0.07 per cent.
According to IperionX, this performance far surpasses the ASTM standard requirement of 0.2per cent for Grade 5 titanium.
IperionX’s patented technologies underpin long-term competitive advantages over the Kroll titanium production process – with lower energy consumption, lower capex, faster cycle times, higher product yields and the ability to utilise 100% scrap titanium or upgraded titanium minerals as feedstocks,” Arima added.
In the coming months, IperionX said it will work to commission and optimise additional process equipment to reach full system production capacity.
The company anticipates achieving end-to-end system operations by late Q4 2024.
Looking ahead, IperionX said it plans to expand its Titanium Manufacturing Campus with modular, low-risk, and cost-effective HAMR furnaces.
Our goal is to re-shore the full titanium supply chain to the United States, at lower costs for our customers, and deliver the most sustainable titanium products on the market,” stated Arima.
