Australian sapphire miner Lava Blue is working with two other Australian institutions at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and the Creative Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (IMCRC) to develop a method to convert kaolin to high purity alumina (HPA). It is hoped that this new HPA production method can provide a low-cost alternative to traditional production routes (such as the processing of high-purity aluminum). The project is expected to cost A $ 4.45 million (US $ 3.05 million), including research and development funding of A $ 650,000 (US $ 0.44 million) provided by IMCRC for the development of Lava Blue`s manufacturing process and pilot plant. According to reports, the company's kaolin has no other commercial uses.
In 2017, Lava Blue confirmed in its sapphire mine (sapphire is also made of alumina) a large area of kaolin deposits containing high-grade alumina. The following year, the company's kaolin purity reached 4N grade, and two processing methods for producing high-purity alumina (purity higher than 4N grade) were developed through experiments. Lava Blue is currently building a pilot plant and is currently conducting a feasibility study on increasing the annual production capacity of its commercial production equipment from 1,000 tons to 5,000 tons. Lava Blue hopes to provide different high-purity alumina products according to different market needs.
High-purity alumina is mainly used to manufacture LED substrates, and this market occupies more than half of the global high-purity alumina usage. Other major markets include semiconductors, phosphors, and ceramic separators inside lithium-ion batteries (the industry`s strong growth).