Highlights

  • HAMR furnace validated at approximately 219 tpa, above the 200 tpa design target; quarterly production reaches 8.7 tonnes of titanium powder, up from 1.4 tonnes in the June quarter.
  • GenX process completes four runs totalling more than 500 kilograms at roughly 100 tpa and 75% lower power consumption; one sample failed oxygen specification limits.
  • SBIR Phase III ceiling contract value US$99 million; base task order US$18.5 million; cash increases to US$63 million from US$35.2 million after July public offering.
  • Titan DFS returns post-tax NPV of US$813 million, IRR 39.4%, Phase 1 capex US$228.1 million on 117 Mt at 3.2% THM mineral reserve.

Titanium's commercial case rests entirely on whether new production processes can undercut the incumbent Kroll process on cost and carbon. IperionX (ASX:IPX) reported on 28 October 2026 that its two-pronged approach — the HAMR furnace in current production and the more radical GenX process in development — both met key milestones in the September quarter, while US Defence contracts continued to fund the Virginia commercial demonstration facility.

HAMR Furnace Validated

The HAMR (Hydrogen Assisted Magnesiothermic Reduction) furnace at the Virginia Titanium facility was validated at approximately 219 tonnes per annum capacity, above the 200 tpa design target. The validation run produced approximately 1.6 tonnes of titanium in 63 hours. Quarterly production from the full facility reached 8.7 tonnes of titanium sponge and powder during the September quarter, up from 1.4 tonnes in the June quarter. The company has delivered 10 tonnes of powder to US Department of Defense customers. The HAMR process reduces titanium oxide using magnesium in a hydrogen atmosphere, operating at lower temperatures and producing less waste than Kroll.

GenX: The Next Generation

The GenX process is a more fundamental re-engineering that IperionX says can produce titanium at roughly 100 tpa per unit with 75% lower power consumption than HAMR. Four GenX runs were completed in the quarter, producing more than 500 kilograms in 41 hours across the four batches. The company says this is approximately six times the throughput of the first GenX demonstration. However, one of the four samples failed oxygen specification limits, which the company is investigating. GenX is still at the development stage; no commercial scale-up timeline has been provided.

US Defence Funding

IperionX holds a US Department of Defense SBIR Phase III ceiling contract worth up to US$99 million. The base task order is US$18.5 million. The DOD contracts provide non-dilutive funding to scale the Virginia facility toward domestic US titanium supply. The company raised US$35 million through a public equity offering in July 2026, taking cash to US$63 million by quarter-end from US$35.2 million. The company is also progressing a redomicile to a Texas-incorporated parent structure, subject to shareholder and court approval.

Titan DFS

The Titan mineral sands project in Virginia, which is the planned feedstock source for the titanium processing operations, completed its definitive feasibility study: post-tax NPV US$813 million, post-tax IRR 39.4%, Phase 1 capex US$228.1 million, on a mineral reserve of 117 million tonnes at 3.2% total heavy mineral. Titan is designed to supply titanium feedstock (ilmenite and rutile) to the Virginia processing facility, closing the supply chain from mine to powder.