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Sulphur 421 Nov-Dec 2025

21 November 2025

SMAC to list on Toronto stock exchange

SMAC to list on Toronto stock exchange

Queensland-based SMAC (Strategic Minerals Acid Critical) Developments says that it plans to list on the Toronto Stock Exchange in December to raise $1.3 million to fund a final feasibility study. The company is attempting to develop sulphuric acid production in northern Queensland to supply local industries. The company plans to initially build a 180,000 t/a sulphur burning acid plant at a site at Cloncurry, followed by a second phase which would involve developing a pyrite roasting plant to generate 550-600,000 t/a of sulphuric acid.

Queensland faces a shortage of acid if the Glencore Mount Isa copper smelter closes down. Mount Isa produces around 1 million t/a of acid. Glencore says that the smelter is losing tens of millions of dollars per month, and in spite of an A$600 million bridging loan from the Queensland government, it is slated to close in 2028. The smelter is the main supplier of acid to Dyno Nobel’s Phosphate Hill facility, which uses up to 1.2 million t/a of acid. Aside from the Mount Isa supply, the balance comes from Sun Metals’ zinc smelter in Townsville. More acid could be required by the expanding vanadium industry in the state and copper leaching operations. Explosives company Dyno Nobel has said that it may cease operations at its fertiliser plant in September 2026 if a buyer is unable to be secured by March next year.

Latest in Industrial

NextChem to conduct study on SAF plant

NextChem subsidiary MyRechemical has been awarded an engineering study contract by Altalto Ltd. for a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant in Immingham, Lincolnshire, based on its proprietary NX CircularTM gasification and NX CPOTM technologies. Altalto is a company set up by Velocys to develop SAF projects in the UK. The plant is expected to be operational in 2030. Initial targets include the production of 23,000 t/a of SAF for the UK market. Feedstock will be sourced from residual municipal solid waste (MSW) and commercial and industrial waste. The project has been awarded a grant from the UK Department for Transport’s Advanced Fuels Fund to progress basic engineering design. MyRechemical will operate as a technology provider and as coordinator for other technological partners. It will also supply engineering services.

Travertine starts operation of demonstration plant

Travertine Technologies, Inc., has began operations at its demonstration plant in New York state. The core Travertine process demonstrated at this plant combines three major unit operations: salt-splitting electrolysis, caustic direct air capture, and mineralisation. This process produces sulphuric acid, calcium carbonate, and green hydrogen from waste gypsum and carbon dioxide captured directly from the air. The demonstration plant will produce 125 t/a of sulfuric acid, 125 t/a of calcium carbonate, and 55 t/a of carbon dioxide sequestration. The plant will supply sustainable sulphuric acid for local partner Sabin Metal Corporation's precious metals recycling and refining business.

Permit agreed for smelter revamp

Chile’s state-run mining company Enami says that it has received an environmental permit for a new $1.7 billion copper smelter, as part of the modernization of its Hernan Videla Lira smelting facility in the northern Atacama region. The new facility will process up to 850,000 t/a of copper concentrate, and its electrolytic refinery will produce up to 240,000 t/a of copper cathodes for use in electronics, construction and renewable vehicles. Enami says that the modernisation will “ensure profitable and sustainable operations, and practically triple the capacity of the old smelter.”