Australia's national science agency, CSIRO, has partnered with Tivan Ltd to further develop a novel vanadium processing technology (TIVAN+), in a step towards advancing the energy transition through sovereign capabilities.
Vanadium is a critical mineral and demand is forecast to grow significantly as it is increasingly being used for renewable energy storage systems, like redox flow batteries.
CSIRO's novel vanadium processing technology can deliver three products, vanadium, titanium and iron, from vanadiferous titanomagnetite (VTM) ore.
The patented CSIRO process operates at atmospheric pressure and temperature and produces less ore-based waste, which no other existing commercial process can achieve.
It also recovers high purity (>99.5 per cent) vanadium as V2O5, which will help facilitate a downstream vanadium industry in Australia.
CSIRO Chief Executive Dr Doug Hilton said this important partnership will see the development and commercialisation of cutting-edge, CSIRO-patented technology increasingly used in the production of renewable energy storage systems.
"The technology is a vital piece in the puzzle in Australia's renewable energy future and it will deliver long term community benefit, boosting the economy and supporting more jobs and opportunities for Australians," Dr Hilton said.
"This is important, innovative, inventive work, creating new sovereign capability that harnesses the critical technologies Australian needs to transition to net zero."
Tivan Executive Chairman Grant Wilson said the partnership is an opportunity to meaningfully advance the energy transition through sovereign capabilities.
"Our partnership with CSIRO exemplifies how research and industry can work together in mission-driven science that addresses Australia's greatest challenges," Mr Wilson said.
At present 65 per cent of global economic vanadium resources reside in China and Russia, which generate 85 per cent of the world's vanadium production.
The partnership presents an opportunity for Australia, which hosts 18 per cent of global vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) resources, to establish a domestic industry for vanadium production.
