We have been talking about the Crystal project for several months now, and the first aluminium purifier has finally been installed in the foundry.
This equipment, operated in collaboration with Dynamic Concept, will enable us to produce high-purity aluminium by reducing the content of chemical elements other than aluminium in the liquid metal produced by the electrolysis process.
The metal that comes out of the tanks is 99.7% aluminium, and the goal is to achieve a minimum purity of 99.98% (3N8, 4N8).
This segregation process requires advanced technologies to ensure effective purification control. It separates the chemical elements to concentrate the impurities (silicon, iron, copper, manganese, magnesium, etc.) in order to remove them and retain only pure aluminium.
This pure aluminium is mainly used in microelectronics and vehicle batteries, markets that are currently experiencing significant growth, particularly in the context of digital development and electric mobility.
The process is proven, and the installation of the first purifier aims to adapt the equipment’s specifications to our aluminium, both at the input and output stages. It will come into operation in 2026 and will enable us to understand the process in order to obtain the first approvals for future customers and to fully understand the operating procedure. Once we have achieved the desired purity and obtained the approvals, the high-purity plant will be built by 2028/2029.
This promising project, which aims to meet the needs of rapidly developing markets, is also an opportunity in terms of sovereignty, as it will bring production back to the UK, which has until now been mainly based in China, Russia and Norway. This is further proof of the strategic nature of our industry!