Impact Minerals (ASX:IPT) has completed a preliminary study into the potential carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions at its Lake Hope High-Purity Alumina (HPA) Project in Western Australia, which shows emissions are likely to be lower than competing processes globally.
Using the current Western Australian electricity supply, the study shows emissions are likely 4.38 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of high-purity alumina (HPA) via the sulphate process, and 3.44 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of HPA for the low-temperature leach (LTL) process.
Impact, which has a market capitalisation of $52 million, says this is competitive with traditional and emerging HPA production methods.
Scope one emissions generally relate to CO2 produced directly from operations and include the proposed mine, haulage of ore, and the processing plant.
Scope two emissions relate mostly to the CO2 produced from the energy used to power Impact’s operations, while scope three emissions relate to CO2 produced indirectly from Impact’s downstream activities and include the emissions associated with purchased goods and services.
Only scope one and two have been considered at this stage as these are under the direct control of Impact Minerals. Scope three will be passed through to the fertiliser by-products.
Impact says the largest contributor to the overall emissions from Lake Hope comes from scope two emissions from the electricity required to power the processing plant. This has been modelled to come from the South West Interconnected System, which is Western Australia’s main power source.
Impact’s study also modelled emissions under a 100% renewable energy scenario. This results in a further reduction in emissions for Impact’s process routes to about 1.35 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of HPA.
The company’s strategy to move towards 100% renewables is to either build-out or contract-to-purchase a renewable energy supply for the processing plant. This will be studied as part of the engineering and financial modelling under the Pre-Feasibility Study.
Impact notes the PFS is on track and scheduled to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year.
Impact Minerals is an explorer with an extensive portfolio that spans more than 5,500km2. The company aims to unlock Australia’s mineral-rich potential via its Lake Hope Project in Western Australia and its other assets.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Impact Minerals
