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Impact Minerals Limited (ASX:IPT) is pleased to announce the positive results of a Preliminary Feasibility Study (PFS) for the Company’s Lake Hope High Purity Alumina (HPA) Project, located 500 km southeast of Perth in the Tier 1 mining jurisdiction of Western Australia. The PFS results align with those of the Scoping Study on the project released to the ASX on November 9th 2023.
- Very strong economic metrics and low-cost production: NPV10 A$1.165 billion (with no by-product revenue)
- Capex A$259 million
Opex US$5,860 per tonne excluding by-product credit - Potential Opex of <US$4,500 with by-product credit
- Maiden Probable and Proved Ore Reserve of: 1.7 Mt at 26% Al2O3 for 450,000 tonnes of contained Al2O3.
- Election to proceed to an 80% interest in Playa One Pty Ltd providing Impact with 80% ownership in the Lake Hope resource and intellectual property.
- Definitive Feasibility Study to commence with construction of pilot plant and investigation into the integration of Lake Hope with the HiPurA process.
The PFS highlights the project's exceptionally strong economics and outlines a pathway for Lake Hope to become a global supplier of low-cost, low-carbon HPA, benefiting both the local Ngadju Aboriginal Native title holders and the broader community. The robust economics stem from the unique characteristics of the Lake Hope deposit, which facilitate cost-effective mining and processing.
The PFS confirms that, to the best of Impact's knowledge based on published data, the Lake Hope project could be among the lowest-cost producers of HPA globally, potentially by a significant margin of at least 30%.
Given these strong fundamentals, Impact will issue 120 million shares, escrowed for 12 months, to exercise its option to acquire an 80% interest in Playa One Pty Ltd, which owns the Lake Hope assets and intellectual property, including two patents for metallurgical processes (ASX Release March 21st 2023).
Work will now commence on a Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS), which will include the construction of a pilot plant to produce HPA samples at scale for discussions on offtake agreements. The pilot plant project, currently underway, will be part-funded by the recent federal government grant awarded to Impact Minerals in collaboration with CPC Engineering and Edith Cowan University (ASX Release October 22nd 2024).
In addition, as part of these studies, Impact will focus on the potential integration of the Lake Hope ore and its associated metallurgical processes with the assets and intellectual property related to the HiPurA process, which were recently acquired through Impact’s 50% share in Alluminous Pty Ltd (ASX Release April 23rd 2025).
As the acquisition occurred near the end of the PFS, the study only pertains to Lake Hope as a stand-alone project and does not consider integration with HiPurA. Impact believes the HiPurA acquisition will accelerate the Company’s entry into the HPA market by several years, potentially enhancing the economics of the combined projects.
Lake Hope PFS Summary
Impact Minerals’ Managing Director, Dr Mike Jones, said, “The Lake Hope PFS clearly demonstrates that Impact Minerals is now on the cusp of delivering a significant, low-cost and highly scalable HPA project. In just over two short years since acquiring the rights to the project, we have proven that Lake Hope’s unique natural feedstock, combined with a straight-forward flowsheet, offers one of the most capital-efficient and environmentally responsible pathways to high-purity alumina production globally. The Project’s strong margins, minimal carbon footprint, and ability to deliver 4N product without critical reagents or complex processing provides us with a clear competitive advantage as the HPA market enters a phase of rapid growth.”
“Importantly, the PFS positions Lake Hope to potentially be the upstream foundation of our vertically integrated HPA business. Through our recent acquisition of a 50% interest in Alluminous Pty Ltd and the HiPurA® downstream processing technology we are now accelerating plans to seamlessly integrate Lake Hope feedstock with HiPurA’s potentially modular HPA production capacity. This unique model offers Impact the flexibility to scale production in line with market demand and customer qualification, while minimising capital intensity and de-risking the path to early revenues.”
“With the PFS now complete, our next steps are clear: we will advance the detailed engineering required to bring Lake Hope into production, which will revolve around our exciting federal government co-funded membrane research project now underway in conjunction with Edith Cowan University and CPC Engineering. We believe very significant improvements to our flow sheet will emerge from that work. We will also progress approvals and initiate off-take discussions. At the same time, we will help fund and rapidly develop the HiPurA® modular production pathway to establish near-term capacity and position Impact as a differentiated, vertically integrated supplier of high-purity alumina to the global market. The opportunities in front of us are significant and today marks a major milestone in what is shaping up to be an exciting future for Impact Minerals and our shareholders.”
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Impact Minerals, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
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