Latrobe Magnesium (LMG) is constructing a 1,000 tpa demonstration magnesium production plant in Hazelwood North, Victoria’s Latrobe Valley 150km southeast of Melbourne.
This is expected to start production in 2024.
LMG has developed a patented hydrometallurgical extraction/thermal reduction process to extract magnesium metal from magnesium rich waste resources. In the Latrobe Valley, magnesium metal will be extracted from fly ash produced by brown coal power plants. As well as magnesium metal, this low emission process produces other valuable by-products such as Supplementary Cementitious Material (SCM), Silica and Iron Oxide using almost 100% of the fly ash resource.
Following successful demonstration, LMG will construct a 10,000 tpa commercial production facility at its Hazelwood North site. LMG’s breakthrough technology and efficient materials handling will enable it to operate at globally competitive costs, with low CO2 emissions. Global demand for magnesium is reaching one million tpa and is projected to double over the next few years.
World First Technology
LMG's unique hydromet extraction process uses acid to treat fly ash. This process can be summarised as:
- Dissolving magnesium (Mg), iron and calcium minerals with acid solution
- Removing iron as iron oxide (Fe2O3) & calcium as calcium carbonate (CaCO3)
- Converting magnesium solution into magnesium oxide (MgO) & recovering the acid for reuse in the process
- Processing MgO into Mg and supplementary cementitious material (SCM) using the thermal reduction process.
LMG's Competitive Advantage
LMG is uniquely placed to respond to the growing global demand for magnesium with uncertainty in Chinese production which supplies 85% of global demand.
LMG will be an efficient, low cost, low emission producer. LMG's processes have half the operating cost of traditional magnesium and SCM production methods. Further LMG generates:
- Waste Reprocessing – the only process capable of extracting magnesium and SCM from fly ash and ferro nickel slag feedstocks
- Valuable By-products – including SCM, char, and silica, which further offset operating costs for magnesium production
- Industry Leading Emission Standards – significantly lower CO2 emissions estimated 50% reduction compared to other magnesium producers.
LMG can help to secure domestic magnesium supply and diversify global supply chains with ready access through Australia's free trade agreements to major Japanese and US markets.
LMG Pathway
Stage 1
The Latrobe Valley project is a demonstration Magnesium Plant located at Hazelwood North in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley, 150km southeast of Melbourne. LMG has developed a patented process to extract magnesium from magnesium rich resources. Magnesium metal will be extracted from fly ash using a world- first hydrometallurgical extraction/thermal reduction process which includes the production of valuable by-products, minimising any waste streams and providing a more sustainable approach.
Stage 2
The 10,000 tpa commercial production facility will utilise the same patented breakthrough technology and efficient materials handling to enable LMG to operate at globally competitive costs with the current annual demand for magnesium reaching approximately one (1) million tpa and projected to double over the next few years.
Stage 3
LMG has awarded a pre-feasibility study for a 100,000 tpa international magnesium mega plant using ferro nickel slag feedstock to global firm Bechtel. LMG has signed a binding MoU with Société Le Nickel (SLN), for the supply of 450,000 tonnes per annum of ferro-nickel slag over 20 years, and is seeking opportunities to use renewable energy in this production process to generate net-zero CO2 emissions. Latrobe Magnesium is seeking joint venture partners for development of this project.
Questions?
Reach our team by emailing enquire@latrobemagnesium.com or completing our contact form below
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