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FYI Resources (ASX: FYI) announced that a high-purity alumina (HPA) pilot plant trial conducted in collaboration with Alcoa of Australia consistently achieved more than 99.99% Al2O3 purity.

“The analytical results suggest the trial achieved purity levels higher than anticipated, which is a result of progressive enhancements to the flowsheet and improvements to operational procedures from previous trials including the use of an alternative feedstock supplied by Alcoa,” the companies said in a media statement.

“FYI considers the outcome to be of significant relevance in improving project economics for potential commercial production.”

In September 2020, FYI and Alcoa announced a memorandum of understanding for the potential joint development of FYI’s HPA project in Western Australia using feedstock from Alcoa’s bauxite mines in the region. Collaborative operation and demonstration of FYI’s pilot plant are a couple of the many conditions precedent under the MoU. 

The firms said that to further corroborate the recent results, some HPA from the trial was retained for detailed internal analysis and product phase work. 

“The additional pilot plant trial HPA samples will be forwarded to EAG Laboratories in New York for further independent, elevated glow discharge mass spectrometry (GDMS) analysis to provide supplementary data that is intrinsic to the level of purity that has been achieved by the collaborative trial production,” the media brief states.

Once this verification is completed, FYI and Alcoa plan to send samples to potential off-take parties for further product qualification. The companies said the focus will be on the LED lighting and lithium-ion battery markets.