Suvo Strategic Minerals has signed a Materials Transfer Agreement with Calix to accelerate its metakaolin green cement supply initiative and meet demands for low-carbon raw materials with industrial application.
Suvo will use Calix’s electric calciner to directly flash heat kaolin supplied from the Pittong operation in Victoria to create market-ready metakaolin – a method that will help to reduce carbon footprint.
Studies have shown that increasing the percentage of metakaolin in cement has the potential to lower its carbon intensity by up to 40 per cent. Cement production is currently estimated to contribute eight per cent of global CO2 emissions.
Metakaolin is a supplementary cementitious replacement for clinker. It is used as a pozzolanic to reduce porosity, increase compressive and flexural strength, and offer greater durability and control of concrete breakdown caused by alkali-silica and other aggressive substance reactions.
“With global demand increasing and the global green cement market anticipated to grow to US$56 billion by 2027, we see this engagement as a crucial step towards diversifying Suvo’s product basket and meeting demand for low-carbon raw materials with industrial application,” Suvo non-executive chairman Henk Ludik said.
Calix managing director Phil Hodgson believes the agreement “represents an exciting opportunity to help develop in Australia what is happening elsewhere – the decarbonisation of the cement sector – in this case through the opportunity to replace some of the clinker with activated clays.”
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