The company behind plans for a $308 million high-purity alumina industrial plant in Gladstone has started manufacturing HPA pellets for potential sapphire glass industry customers.

Alpha HPA plans to produce about 10,000tpa of high purity alumina at the HPA First project in Gladstone, using its own solvent extraction and HPA refining technology.

It is operating a Brisbane-based pilot plant to meet HPA test orders, particularly from sapphire glass/LED manufacturers.

“The company continues to make excellent progress on several technical and commercial work streams critical to readying the HPA First project for commercialisation,” managing director Rimas Kairaitis said.

The company said it had completed the second of three planned double flow solvent extraction and crystallisation campaigns.

This had produced more than 500kg of high-grade intermediary Al-salt which was being converted into HPA precurser and then HPA, it said.

Initial production has been directed at commissioning a HPA pellet press (pictured) and sintering oven.

Alpha HPA said production was scheduled to accelerate in the second half of September.

The company has established a new Brisbane office, which will house the HPA First project delivery team ahead of project establishment in Gladstone.