About Us

About Alpha Fine Chemicals

Alpha Fine Chemicals Limited (AFC) is a West Australian company building a facility to cost effectively and safely produce high purity nickel sulphate for use in lithium-ion batteries for the electric vehicle and stationary storage markets.

There are a range of different cathode chemistries used in lithium-ion batteries, however, the chemistries that are expected to supply the majority of the market for the foreseeable future require nickel and the form of nickel required is nickel sulphate. These battery cathode chemistries are the NCM (Nickel Cobalt Manganese) and NCA (Nickel Cobalt Aluminium). The nickel rich chemistries are preferred due to their high energy density, which provides better performance and vehicle range on a cost competitive basis.

Our business is centred on our exclusive global rights to the CMN Process – a patented solvent extraction process that uses readily available and field proven stable reagents to produce nickel sulphate. The process does not involve any high pressure or high temperature operations, nor toxic or flammable gases, which are typically required. CMN plants are less complex, safer to operate and therefore cheaper to build and run.

Subject to normal local and state government approvals, our first plant will be strategically located on Myrup Road, approximately 10 kilometres north of Esperance and the Esperance Port. This location provides easy access to export our products and import raw materials.

The plant, with a project life of more than 20 years will produce 20,000 tpa of high purity nickel sulphate. The plant will also produce cobalt carbonate and magnesium sulphate as by-products of the production of nickel sulphate.

At least fifty long term full time jobs will be created in Esperance.

Production is expected to begin in 2019.