Latrobe Magnesium Ltd (ASX:LMG, OTC:LTRBF) is advancing the construction of its Magnesium Demonstration Plant at pace, continuing to experience no reportable health, safety, or environmental (HSE) incidents to date.
Using its patented process, Latrobe intends to extract and sell magnesium metal and cementitious material from industrial fly ash, which is currently a waste resource from brown coal power generation.
There are now only ten items outstanding on the company’s construction and commissioning punch list, which involve operational issues but no technical barriers.
LMG anticipates the plant will be producing sustained magnesium oxide product from the beginning of October, with revenue to follow soon after.
Stage 2 commercial plant
The main operational items still to be completed at the demonstration plant include:
- Spray Roaster insulation works – in progress
- Spray Roaster Ladder Modifications – in progress
- Agitator replacement and optimisation – delivery due end of August / early September
- Process Control Software Updates – mobilisation planned for August / early September
- Additional instrumentation installation and equipment upgrades to enhance operability – delivery due end of August / Early September
Latrobe has contracted Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation (SMEC) to assess sites for its proposed stage 2 commercial plant, which the company expects to finalise in the coming months.
The commercial plant will be built to produce 10,000 tonne per year, part of a staged ramp-up to the final 100,000 tonnes-per-year international plant LMG intends to construct in Malaysia.
Magnesium has the best strength-to-weight ratio of all common structural metals and is increasingly used in the manufacture of car parts, laptop computers, mobile phones, and power tools.