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Empire Metals Ltd on Thursday announced a ‘defining moment’ in its work on the Pitfield Titanium Project in Western Australia, having completed an integrated metallurgical processing flowsheet. The London-based, Australia-focused mining company said the flowsheet can produce a high-purity titanium oxide pigment and titanium sponge metal feedstock, as well as a high-grade alumina co-product. It said batch testwork to date has resulted in a product with a 99.25% TiO2 grade, and that the Al2O3 co-product has the potential to be ‘highly marketable’ and ‘simultaneously lifts TiO2 recovery, lowers reagent costs and reduces waste’. Empire said the flowsheet was built using proven, conventional processing steps, materially de-risking its scale-up and feasibility, and its production capabilities are supported by bench-scale testwork. It added that whole-of-ore flotation has confirmed the selective recovery of titanium minerals with rejection of more than 90% of unwanted gangue, producing concentrate grades above 34% TiO2. Titanium extraction of up to 98% has been achieved via an acid bake-water leach process, it said, with 98.7% grade alumina produced from the pre-leach solution. ‘The development of a fully integrated processing flowsheet utilising conventional beneficiation, leaching and refining processes to produce a high-grade...product represents a defining moment in the development of the Pitfield Titanium Project,’ said Managing Director Shaun Bunn. Empire furthermore said the project is positioned to provide a significant Western source of TiO2 rutile pigment and titanium sponge metal feedstock, as opposed to ‘the energy-intensive ilmenite supply source that currently dominates global production.’ The company intends to start continuous metallurgical piloting in the third quarter to validate the design criteria, and has commissioned a research programme at Murdoch University to develop a process for producing titanium metal directly from Pitfield’s TiO2 product through molten salt electrolysis. This offers ‘a potential low-cost, lower-emission route to titanium metal and a pathway to further downstream value,’ it explained. ‘We are on track to complete the process design and scoping phase of the project following an extensive and productive period of research, testwork and innovation,’ Bunn commented. ‘Further engineering and pilot-scale testwork will continue to evaluate scalability, allow process optimisation and further demonstrate the project’s merits.’ Empire Metals shares were 5.7% higher at 34.89 pence on Thursday in London. Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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