The case for Latrobe Magnesium 2022, page-190

First, I apologise for 4 posts in such a short period, I just happen to be a researcher by nature and think this next article is very interesting.

It maybe that LMG would find benefit in a discussion with Japan’s Itochu Corporation.

My hope is that you can follow my train of thought through this post.

The following is worth a read imo.. Bold on interesting points...

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This entrepreneur speeds up time to turn carbon into building products

Colin Packham and Ben Potter

Aug 18, 2022 – 9.58am

Australian start-up MCi Carbon, which aims to cut carbon emissions in so-called hard-to-abate sectors such as steel, cement and heavy industry, has partnered with construction firm Taisei Corporation of Japan to promote its technology for converting carbon into cement and other products.

Global interest in technology that uses captured CO2 to produce solid materials known as carbonates is accelerating.

MCi last year struck a deal with Itochu Corporation for the Japanese company to invest millions of dollars in exchange for exclusive rights to develop market applications for the carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) technology with other Japanese firms.

In the first such deal, MCi – 34 per cent-owned by Orica – and Itochu said they had signed a deal with Taisei that would accelerate the development of a technology heralded as a solution to reduce carbon emissions.

MCi, formerly Mineral Carbonation International, adopted CCU technology developed in the 2000s by the US Department of Energy that was abandoned in favour of carbon capture and storage (CCS), and has spent 15 years developing and perfecting it.

The technology speeds up the natural weathering process that embodies carbon in other materials from geological timescales to factory production timescales.

It aims to combine readily available materials such as magnesium silicate and calcium compounds dug out of quarries or found in fly ash and steel slag with CO2 captured from steel, cement, chemicals and other heavy industries to form solids that can be used to make useful products.

These materials, such as magnesium carbonate and calcium carbonate, emerge as white powders which can be converted into products such as cement and plasterboard substitutes, fire retardant materials, plastic fillers and refractory linings for steel making that can store carbon permanently and have commercial value.

‘We don’t need a carbon price’

Chief executive Marcus Dawe said the process developed by MCi, with the help of engineers originally seconded from Orica and now on MCi’s staff, worked at low or virtually ambient heat and pressure and did not require acids or other corrosive materials.

One tonne of the material contained 400 kilograms to 500 kilograms of carbon, and the process would be commercially viable without a carbon price.

“We lock it away permanently,” Mr Dawe said. “We have shown that we don’t need a carbon price to be viable. The sale of the products that we create far exceeds the cost.

“If our plans go the way we want them to, we’ll be building more than 30 of these plants around the world and we’ll be getting rid of carbon dioxide and then creating these materials which are in high demand from manufacturers and other carbon-intensive industries.

“We have got so many manufacturers saying, ‘When can you supply us with these materials?’.”

MCi has a demonstration plant at Orica’s Kooragang Island site in NSW, which takes CO2 from ammonium nitrate production.

Mr Dawe said MCi was working mainly with the steel, cement, manufacturing and mining industries to reduce hard-to-abate carbon emissions that are intrinsic to their production processes, rather than a byproduct of the energy used in production.

But the company is less keen on helping fossil fuel power stations reduce their emissions.

“We are driven by a values process. We’ll get rid of emissions on the way to net zero, but we are not going to be enabling emissions,” he said.

Before its latest deal, Itochu was already investigating various applications of the technology and developing decarbonisation plants to showcase the MCi technology in Japan.

These decarbonisation plants are expected to produce several hundred thousand tonnes of material in Japan by 2027. New partner Taisei will assess and validate the Japanese-produced carbonates in concrete and construction products.

Itochu last month said it had signed a deal with Brazilian steel giant CSN to study the introduction of decarbonisation technologies at Brazil’s Casa de Pedra Mine, which is being jointly developed by Itochu and CSN. A final plan on the technical roll-out is expected this year.

The deal comes amid a sustained period of growth for MCi. Last year, it secured $14.6 million of funding from the federal government to help fund construction of a demonstration plant near Newcastle for the technology.

MCi’s process uses captured CO2 to produce solid materials known as “carbonates” that are used to produce construction materials such as concrete and plasterboard.

Mmmmm.... Now related this to LMG

LMG’s project remediates mining sites by recycling 100% of potentially hazardous wastes, like fly ash, into valuable saleable products.

LMG’s demonstration plant produces 4.1 tonnes of Supplementary Cementitious Material (SCM) per tonne of Mg

Approximately 30% of Portland cement can optimally be replaced with LMG’s SCM. This has additional benefit of reducing the overall CO2 footprint for Portland cement by 30%, a reduction of 0.8 tonnes of CO2 per tonne.

So, how much carbon does the LMG process capture?

I think that is a very pertinent question. Not just the reduction in CO2 emissions but also capture of carbon.

What are the synergies?

LMG's process produces zero CO2 in the production of SCM, so that means the carbon capture can only positive.

Quote from Investor Presentation Dec 2021 "LMG produces up to 50% less CO2 than other Magnesium producers using their acid process and produces no CO2 in the production of SCM."

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Itochu Corporation has offices in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.Itochu Corporation has a valuation of USD 42.4 billion.

I have searched for any connections of Itochu Corporation or Orica with ALCONIX that is the parent company of AMJC. AMJC (Advanced Metal Japan Corporation) has a MOU with LMG for off take of magnesium. AMJC are relatively minor competitors to Itochu Corporation.

I believe there are far wider implications for the LMG Hrydromet process than we are aware of.


Regards
Ken