Australian innovator Altech Chemicals Ltd. and its subsidiary Altech Industries Germany GmbH (AIG) announced last week the opening of an office and research & development facility at DOCK3 Industrial Development Centre in the Schwarze Pumpe Industrial Park in Saxony, Germany.
The firm said in a press release that the event was attended by several corporate officials and government dignitaries, including the mayors of two nearby municipalities.
Altech obtained a three-year lease of the property in May, which included office space and two of twelve bays in a workshop/warehouse complex at DOCK3 IDC. Those facilities are directly adjacent to a 34-acre parcel upon which Altech has an option to buy at a later date.
The firm plans to open an advanced battery materials research and development facility at the DOCK3 IDC site where it will continue research into coating anode materials with high-purity alumina. Altech is currently working on a preliminary feasibility study, which at this point assumes a phase one coating plant capable of coating 10,000tpa (35tpd) of anode grade graphite per year.
Ultimately Altech intends to fast-track full-scale commercial production of its proprietary battery materials coating technology at the site in Germany.
Altech Chemicals is based in Subiaco, Western Australia and is attempting to implement a marketable process for delivering 99.99% (4N) HPA using conventional equipment at a lower production cost than methods currently available. It plans to construct a 4,500 metric ton per annum HPA plant at Tanjung Langsat Industrial Complex, Johor, Malaysia that will use kaolin clay from a company-owned mine in Meckering, Western Australia. The firm is fast-tracking HPA production due to an agreement with Mitsubishi for 100% of its proposed HPA production for ten years.