CleanCo’s Swanbank site has a plentiful supply of coal ash, a legacy of 50 years of energy generation from two coal-fired power stations that once operated at the Ipswich site. In a new collaboration with critical minerals manufacturer Lava Blue, CleanCo is helping to explore whether this ash could be used as feedstock for High Purity Alumina (HPA), a key material in clean energy applications.

Supported by a $480,000 grant from the Queensland Government’s Collaborative Development Program, Lava Blue recently collected coal ash samples from Swanbank to assess its potential as feedstock for HPA.

HPA is a high-value, in-demand material used in LED lighting, synthetic sapphire glass for scratch-resistant lenses, and ceramic coatings in lithium-ion batteries.

The research will be carried out at Lava Blue’s Centre for Predictive Research into Speciality Materials (PRISM) in the Redlands, with early results from the research expected in late 2026.

As CleanCo transforms our Swanbank site into a Clean Energy Hub, responsibly repurposing coal ash is one way we’re closing the loop – creating sustainable opportunities from legacy materials to support the energy transition.