Building the world’s largest HPA refinery

Our Gladstone team has been instrumental in helping to build the first stage of one of the largest single high purity alumina (HPA) refineries in the world, Alpha HPA’s First Project.  

Not only that, the state-of-the-art Project will be the first to use solvent extraction for aluminum, which traditionally has been used as a method for extracting and purifying other metals.  

For those who aren’t in the know, HPA can be processed into a synthetic sapphire material which is commonly used in watch lenses and mobile phone cameras, a product which is increasingly in demand.  

On the back of our Engineering Construction (EC) Electrical and Instrumentation team’s initial contract award, high quality work and efficiency, our Maintenance and Industrial Services (M&IS) Eastern Region team has subsequently secured structural, mechanical and piping work at the Project. 

EC’s Manager Gladstone Operations, Joel Genninges, said the work provides a great opportunity for Monadelphous. 

“Not only is this one of the largest projects of its kind, it’s also the most technologically advanced, which is really exciting for our team,” he said. 

Traditionally, HPA production is synthesised from aluminium metal feedstock, or produced from hydrochloric acid leach of kaolin clay. Both of these processes are relatively energy intensive, produce high emissions and create waste. Alpha HPA’s Project will enable the extraction of aluminium with pinpoint accuracy, generating a suite of ultra HPA products with a very low carbon footprint 

“It’s awesome to be building something that will contribute to a greener future and that will enable Monadelphous to bid on similar scopes of work, including the remaining stages of this Project,” Joel said. 

“We’ve built a good relationship with our customer so far and to be recognised for the work delivered during the electrical and instrumentation scope, with the award of the structural, mechanical and piping scope, is a fantastic outcome for the team.”