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Metals

The breakthrough titanium metal technologies offer a potential pathway to a 100% U.S.-sourced, low-cost and low-carbon titanium supply chain that can reduce the carbon emissions of advanced materials. These technologies can accept either raw minerals or 100% scrap metal as feedstock, and are capable producing in a closed-loop, 100% recyclable metal supply chain.

 

The potential exists to apply these technologies to produce metals other than titanium as well, with research underway into applications for rare earth elements and zirconium.

A gloved hand holds a handful of IperionX's 100% recycled titanium metal powder.
Small pile and scoop of IperionX's spherical titanium powder made with the GSD Process. IperionX can produce both spherical and angular titanium metal powder using either raw minerals or scrap metal as feedstock.
Array of 3D printed titanium parts.
Hands holding variety of 3D printed titanium parts.

Leading the Titanium Age

Our mission is powered by proprietary technologies invented by Dr. Zhigang Zak Fang at the University of Utah and developed with funding from the United States Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Research Programs Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) program.

 

These technologies enable us to produce low-cost titanium metal from either titanium minerals or scrap titanium metal. The ability to use 100% titanium scrap as feedstock, which is not possible with the industry standard Kroll manufacturing process, allows for a novel, closed-loop and sustainable titanium manufacturing process.

Dr. Zak Fang

Dr. Zak Fang is the Chief Technology Officer of Blacksand Technology and inventor of HAMR and a suite of Ti process technologies from mineral to products.

Learn More About Dr. Fang
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Our Technologies

Titanium metal scrap. IperionX's breakthrough HAMR Process can use either minerals or scrap as feedstock to produce commercially pure or alloyed titanium metal powders at a low cost and more sustainably than current processes.

The HAMR Process

The Hydrogen Assisted Metallothermic Reduction (HAMR) process is an energy efficient thermochemical process that can produce either Commercially Pure (CP) or alloyed titanium powders at low cost and with low emissions.

Learn More About HAMR
Pile of spherical titanium powder. IperionX's GSD process enables the production of powders at a lower cost and lower carbon emissions compared to commercial powders that are available today.

The GSD Process

The Granulation-Sintering-Deoxygenation (GSD) process is a thermochemical process for producing spherical alloy powder that combines low-cost feedstock material with high-yield production and can produce spherical titanium and titanium alloy powders at a significantly lower cost compared to commercial powders that are available today.

Learn More About GSD
IperionX Angular Powder

The HSPT Process

The Hydrogen Sintering and Phase Transformation (HSPT) process is an innovative powder metallurgy process developed by Dr. Zak Fang and his team at the University of Utah. HSPT enables the low-cost production of near-net-shape titanium parts with similar properties to traditional forged or wrought parts.

Learn More About HSPT
Spoon of synthetic rutile. IperionX's synthetic rutile is much lower carbon and can utilize minerals from the Titan Project in Tennessee to produce titanium metal feedstocks.

Synthetic Rutile
Process
(Green RutileTM)

IperionX’s Green Rutile is produced via an innovative low carbon titanium mineral enrichment technology that upgrades lower content titanium dioxide ilmenite minerals into a high titanium synthetic rutile product without the use of carbon reductants, including coal, which are typically used to upgrade low grade titanium feedstocks into high value, high grade titanium feedstocks.

Learn More About Green Rutile