IperionX Produces Titanium Metal From Tennessee Minerals

• IperionX has successfully applied patented technologies to produce the first low-carbon spherical titanium, aluminum and vanadium alloy (“Ti-6Al-4V” or “Ti64”) powder using titanium minerals from Tennessee as feedstock.
  
  
  
  
• Testing confirmed that IperionX’s Ti64 powder meets important Grade 5 quality specifications, which accounts for ~50% of global titanium metal use, including in aerospace turbines, structures and engine components.
  
  
  
  
• The patented titanium technologies have the potential to significantly lower the energy consumption, costs and carbon emissions versus the incumbent Kroll process used to create titanium metal sponge and then refined into titanium alloys.
  
  
  
  
• The technologies can produce titanium alloys directly with alloying elements oxides, and this important advantage offers a valuable opportunity to deliver customers a wider range of lower cost innovative titanium alloys on shorter lead times.
  
  
  
  
• The U.S. currently has no primary titanium metal (sponge) production capacity, with key inputs in the global titanium supply chain dominated by China and Russia.
  
  
  
  
• IperionX aims to re-shore an all-American low-carbon titanium supply chain that will utilize recycled titanium feedstocks, and titanium minerals from Tennessee, to produce commercial grade titanium metal and alloys for use in aerospace, space, consumer electronics, electric vehicle and defense sectors.

IperionX Limited (“IperionX” or “Company”) (NASDAQ: IPX, ASX: IPX) is pleased to announce that it has successfully applied patented low-carbon titanium metal technologies to upgrade Tennessee titanium minerals into high grade +99% TiO₂ and then into a high-quality spherical titanium alloy powder.

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IperionX metal powder production process. Titan ilmenite, ~60% TiO2 (LHS), +99% TiO2 (middle), Ti-6Al-4V (RHS). (Photo: Business Wire)

Testing has confirmed successful production of a spherical Ti-6Al-4V powder with aluminum and vanadium uniformly distributed within the sample and meeting industrial specifications, and oxygen content meeting Grade 5 specification (<0.2 wt%).

Ti64 is a widely used alloy of titanium, aluminum and vanadium that provides high strength-to-weight ratio, excellent corrosion resistance and biocompatibility. Spherical Ti64 powders are used to manufacture advanced components with additive manufacturing / 3D printing.

Titanium alloy powders are currently produced with the Kroll process to firstly create titanium metal sponge, which is then refined via a series of high energy titanium melt processes to produce large batch titanium alloys as ingots. These ingots are then processed into titanium alloy wire/rod, which are feedstocks for high energy plasma / gas atomization that produces spherical titanium alloy powders.

The patented titanium technologies avoid the high-cost, high-carbon Kroll process to create titanium sponge, but also bypass the series of energy intensive titanium melt processes, ingot manufacturing, wire production and gas atomization, to produce low carbon and low-cost titanium spherical powders.

Anastasios (Taso) Arima, IperionX’s Managing Director and CEO said:

“The need to secure a cost effective, low carbon, all-American titanium metal supply chain is of critical importance to major U.S. industries and the U.S. defense sector.

Today’s announcement highlights that these innovative technologies can produce low carbon titanium metal and its alloys directly from domestically sourced titanium minerals from our Titan critical minerals project in Tennessee. These patented technologies can deliver production of innovative titanium alloys that were not possible with the current melt processes.

The signing into law of the Inflation Reduction Act (2022) last week was an important turning point for re-shoring critical low carbon American supply chains and provides a wide range of U.S. government funding opportunities and incentives to accelerate the scale-up of emerging technologies to reduce the U.S. reliance on foreign supply chains. These include $40 billion for DOE Loan Programs Office loan commitments, $500 million for the DOD DPA Title III program, and a 10% production tax credit for critical mineral and metal production in the U.S., enabling the acceleration of actions to fund and secure these critical supply chains.”

About IperionX

IperionX’s mission is to be the leading developer of low carbon, sustainable, critical material supply chains focused on advanced industries including space, aerospace, electric vehicles and 3D printing. IperionX’s breakthrough titanium technologies have the potential to produce titanium products which are sustainable, 100% circular, low carbon intensity and at product qualities which exceed current industry standards. The Company also holds a 100% interest in the Titan Project, located in Tennessee, U.S., a very large titanium resource in North America which is also rich in rare earth minerals.

Full details of the announcement can be found here.

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