QEM Limited’s (QEM) vanadium and oil shale pilot plant has been formally commissioned and is scheduled to be operational for up to six months.
The pilot plant was commissioned in late May at the Melbourne headquarters of HRL Technology Group Pty Ltd (HRL Technology).
Pre-commissioning testing works were conducted last month and the full-scale advanced testing program is now underway following the successful commissioning of the plant.
The pilot plant has been designed and developed to validate QEM’s proprietary extraction process, ahead of a commercial demonstration plant.
QEM’s primary focus is the extraction of vanadium and oil shale, but QEM will also integrate metallurgy work to investigate high-purity alumina (HPA) extraction potential, after a recent resource estimate at the Julia Creek project identified a material volume of aluminium.
HPA is a high-purity form of aluminium oxide and in March 2022 it was designated as a critical mineral in Australia.
The pilot plant was fabricated at AMAR’s facility in India. AMAR is a specialist manufacturer of high pressure, high temperature batch and continuous reactors and allied systems, whose client list includes General Electric, Shell, BASF and Bayer, among others.
QEM Managing Director, Gavin Loyden, said the commissioning of the pilot plant represents the continued positive progression of the Julia Creek vanadium and oil shale project, as well as the latent value potential the Company can capture.
“I am delighted that we have reached this major milestone in the development of the Julia Creek Project. We are now well positioned to unlock value for our shareholders as we commence our pre-feasibility studies,” Mr Loyden said.
“Crucially, the potential HPA upside recently identified will be incorporated into our original bench scale test work program schedule cost-effectively and without timing delays to the core of our program.”
HRL Technology previously completed the hazard and operability study on the bench-scale oil and vanadium pilot plant in July 2021 at its Melbourne headquarters. Key components of the plant received ASME certification on 26 October 2021.
Image courtesy of QEM Limited.
