High value fluorine chemicals are widely used in many applications in modern economies, such as lithium-ion batteries, semi-conductor manufacture and metal production

Australia is currently 100% reliant on imports for all fluorine chemicals. This creates strategic vulnerabilities, such as for our significant aluminium smelting industry

Fluorspar is the major source of fluorine worldwide. It has been designated a critical mineral by the US, Europe, Japan, Canada and Australia

Although fluorspar is a critical mineral, it cannot be used directly to produce fluorine chemicals. The intermediate is anhydrous hydrogen fluoride (AHF), which is produced by the reaction of fluorspar and sulfuric acid

ALCORE has conducted an indicative economic assessment on its world-first proprietary process to produce anhydrous hydrogen fluoride (AHF) from aluminium smelter bath, a by-product of aluminium smelting

The indicative operating cost of producing hydrogen fluoride using the ALCORE process is US$1,000-$1,600/t. Based on current hydrogen fluoride prices, this would place ALCORE in the lowest quartile for hydrogen fluoride production cost and represent a 30-60% operating margin