Ben Lamprecht

IperionX scaling next-generation titanium manufacturing in Virginia, USA New high-productivity uniaxial press and the cold isostatic press marks key milestones in advanced titanium powder metallurgy and manufacturing Lower waste, lower cost high-performance titanium via HAMR and HSPT - built with American technology and innovation Building the defence-grade titanium supply chain America urgently needs. $IPX

3 | Enter IperionX: Inverting the Titanium Process   IperionX, a U.S.-based advanced materials company, believes that the fundamental problem with titanium isn’t the metal. It’s the production method.   Their solution is not to incrementally improve the Kroll process, but to replace it altogether. Their approach is built upon two proprietary technologies: HAMR and HSPT.   HAMR (Hydrogen-Assisted Metallothermic Reduction) is a breakthrough process that allows titanium metal to be produced directly from either scrap or mineral in a simple, efficient way. HAMR uses a hydrogen-enabled metallothermic reduction to create high-performance titanium powder - ready for downstream manufacturing. It bypasses the most expensive, energy-intensive parts of the legacy chain.   HSPT (Hydrogen Sintering and Phase Transformation) is a forging technology that transforms titanium into high-strength wrought parts with microstructures equal to or better than forged titanium. Combined with conventional powder metallurgy manufacturing, it eliminates the need for hot-working and dramatically reduces the amount of machining to produce a final titanium part.   The economic implications are dramatic. Instead of losing ~90% of the metal to swarf, IperionX can achieve greater than 90% yield. Instead of three vacuum arc melts and high-cost forging, parts can be pressed and sintered as near-net-shapes. A component that once cost $1,000 to make might soon cost $200. For small, complex parts, the savings could be even higher.   ⸻   4 | Lower Costs, Higher Productivity, Higher Yields   IperionX doesn’t just reduce cost. It reduces waste, carbon and shortens the supply chain.   HAMR can utilise both titanium scrap and upgrade titanium minerals, and it eliminates many energy-intensive stages inherent in the Kroll process, reducing total energy input by more than 60% compared to the legacy process. It also enables a circular, closed-loop titanium economy: aerospace scrap, 3D printing rejects, and consumer product returns can all be reprocessed into new, high-performance titanium.   The company’s Virginia Titanium Campus now operates a commercial-scale HAMR furnace and has produced full end-to-end demonstration parts for customers in the defense, mobility, and electronics sectors. For scale and secuity, IperionX has a fully permitted critical mineral project in Tennessee - the largest in the U.S. - to supply titanium mineral feedstock that will underpin decades of titanium metal production.   Critically, all of this is in the United States. At a time when more than 70% of global titanium sponge comes from China and Russia, and when defense supply chains are under increased pressure, a domestic, high-efficiency alternative is matter of national security.   ⸻   5 | What Happens When Titanium Is Lower Cost?   As IperionX scales, titanium will follow the same arc as aluminum did in the 20th century - from laboratory to mass engineering staple. When costs fall by 75% and yield improves tenfold, the design calculus will change and product substitution will occur on an accelerating rate.   You could see titanium in crash-resistant EV battery enclosures. In high-performance corrosion-proof humanoid robotics. In thin, nearly indestructible laptop casings. In low-cost, 3D-printed implants for knees, hips, and medical applications. In defense systems that demand high strengths at low weight, and zero-reliance on foreign materials.   It is not just that titanium becomes cheaper. It becomes the default high-performance solution.   ⸻   6 | The Titanium ‘Bessemer Moment’   In steel, it was the Bessemer converter that changed everything. In aluminum, it was the Hall-Héroult breakthrough. For titanium, the arrival of HAMR and HSPT is revolutionary.   These technologies don’t make titanium better. Titanium was always exceptional. What they do is remove the friction between the metal’s potential and the world’s ability to use it. IperionX $IPX

IperionX has successfully completed site acceptance and commissioning of its advanced 300-ton six-axis SACMI powder metallurgy press at IperionX's Titanium Manufacturing Campus in South Boston, Virginia. The commissioning of the SACMI powder metallurgy press represents an important expansion of IperionX’s U.S. titanium manufacturing platform. The press significantly increases IperionX’s compaction capacity and the ability to manufacture a broader range of complex titanium components using its powder metallurgy technologies. Full release: app.sharelinktechnologies.com/announcement-p… SACMI OEM information can be found here: sacmi.com/en-US/metals/m… sacmi.com/sharedcontent/… #titanium #powdermetallurgy $IPX $IPX.AX

It’s painful to realize that the moment the Russian missile hit, someone’s life stopped even though everything froze in place: furniture still standing, food still in the fridge, napkins left on the table… and yet the people are gone. The children are gone. Killed by Russia. 📍Kyiv, Ukraine

This young couple from Kherson had their whole life ahead of them. Yesterday, a russian artillery strike killed 22-year-old Yelyzaveta. Her husband Ihor survived — but lost both legs. He is now fighting for his life in intensive care. Their child is not even 3 years old. And while Ihor lies in a hospital bed, his mother is fighting cancer. One russian shell destroyed an entire family. This is russian terror.

Tech disruption goes by many names, but it's still disruption. Shrinking the lead time from 70 weeks of traditional imported manufacturing down to onshore supply in just a matter of weeks is truly outstanding.

If you missed it: kyivindependent.com/king-charles-e…

It appears that we may be entering Physical Arbitrage The market is valuing "Tech" based on its potential to rapidly scale, and "Mining" based on its historical cyclicality and far longer development cycles This is the AI version of the Jevons Paradox: as we become more efficient at manufacturing, we rapidly consume more because falling costs makes goods ubiquitous Manufacturing (Deflation): As Elon recently noted, AI-driven design and robotic assembly slash the cost of transforming atoms into products Resources (Inflation): AI makes mining and processing cheaper - which extends the life of marginal assets - but it cannot speed up the 5–20 year permitting and social license cycle, so new supply is throttled The Outcome: Tech companies rapidly scale the brains (AI) but cannot build the bodies (robots etc) because metal prices spike Result: Short term growth is limited by access to critical resources. Wealth concentrates in the hands of ‘resource owners’ or those with the technologies that can recycle resources at lower cost with superior quality Maybe the real value lies in convergence: mining companies that operate like tech companies (high-tech mining and processing, AI-driven exploration) will capture "tech" multiples while holding the long term, appreciating, in-ground "physical" assets a16z’s excellent ‘It’s time to mine’ paper points to this evolution: a16z.com/its-time-to-mi…

What is the very best solution to increase yttrium feedstock in the USA? IperionX’s Titan rare earths and critical minerals project (Tennessee) Titan is the only fully permitted U.S. project with high yttrium content, and high proportions DyTb and NdPr Titan has unmatched yttrium content

This beast of a machine is a game-changer. It lets us push the boundaries of high-volume, low-cost production of complex titanium parts — all made right here in the USA with our revolutionary HAMR powder and sintered via our HSPT process. 🇺🇸

Greetings from Kyiv. I’m looking for beauty. russians are launching drones and missiles. Since yesterday evening, they have attacked Ukraine with 3 ballistic missiles and 324 drones.

Tulips bloom in Kyiv. Flags honoring those who fought for freedom flutter in the wind.

A civilization reveals itself by what it builds, what it preserves, and what it calls beautiful. The Veiled Virgin is a Carrara marble statue carved in Rome by the Italian sculptor Giovanni Strazza.

Just yesterday afternoon, we published an investigation titled “How Russia Is Scaling the Use of Starlink on Strike Drones and Circumventing Sanctions”, and only a few hours later Russian drones controlled via Starlink attacked a passenger train. informnapalm.org/ua/yak-rosiia-… We remind that, technically, SpaceX has the capability to selectively disable its terminals. In September 2023, media reports stated that in 2022 Elon Musk secretly ordered Starlink satellite communications to be switched off in the area of temporarily occupied Crimea in order to disrupt a Ukrainian operation involving naval drones targeting Black Sea Fleet vessels in the bays of temporarily occupied Sevastopol. What prevents the detection of Starlink-equipped drones flying deep into Ukrainian territory and the selective disabling of their connectivity, if this is technically possible?

Hey, big man, @elonmusk, why don't you stop the Russians from using Starlinks to target Ukrainian cities. Making money on war crimes may damage your brand.

IperionX announces prototype deal with defense contractor businessnc.com/iperionx-annou… via @Business North Carolina

IperionX has received a prototype purchase order for the production of lightweight titanium components for U.S. Army heavy ground combat systems. This initial purchase order has the potential to lead to a significantly larger agreement upon successful delivery of this initial scope of work. Light weighting is an increasingly critical design consideration for U.S. Army heavy ground combat platforms as the vehicles continues to gain mass through successive survivability and lethality upgrades, including enhanced armor systems and emerging counter-UAS and drone-protection solutions. Full release: app.sharelinktechnologies.com/announcement-p… #titanium $IPX $IPX.AX