IperionX titanium powder output jumps to 8.7 tonnes in September quarter
Key Facts
IperionX said it produced about 8.7 tonnes of titanium powder using HAMR technology in the quarter ended September 30, 2026, up from 1.4 tonnes in the June quarter, according to its quarterly report published via GlobeNewswire on October 29. The increase reflects the company’s shift toward scaling production after testing powder specifications, with work focused on qualifying finished products for military and commercial customers. The company said HAMR powder consistently met or exceeded Grade 5 titanium quality specifications. This comes as IperionX expands its operations in Virginia, where it says production moved to a 24-hour operating schedule during fiscal 2026. The expansion targets an annual production rate of about 200 tonnes by the end of 2026, subject to completing the expansion and improving operations.
The company had verified operation of its continuous GenX platform by processing more than 500 kg in four runs totaling 41 hours, and all valid samples met ASTM oxygen specifications. Average processing was about 12 kg per hour during those runs, according to test results published in September. Compared with batch HAMR over a similar operating period, GenX recorded six times the throughput. IperionX said the platform cut energy consumption by more than 75%, magnesium by more than 45% and hydrogen by more than 60% per kilogram. These results give the company an operational indicator of processing efficiency, while the next step remains integrating the platform into a full production line.
The company said it had verified an equivalent operating rate of about 100 tonnes per year for the GenX platform and was working to integrate it into a full production line. The chief executive said in September that the next step was an engineering and economic assessment of the first industrial-scale GenX production line. IperionX also plans to complete an expansion that will raise installed capacity for HAMR powder equipment to about 1,400 tonnes per year during 2027, with planning, design and long-lead equipment procurement continuing. The gap between the equivalent operating rate verified on GenX and the installed capacity targeted in the expansion shows the scale of the company’s plans, without meaning that this capacity has become actual production. The company says operational and technical improvements raised nominal titanium powder capacity from 125 to about 200 tonnes per year without additional capital expenditure.
On products, IperionX produced about 1,500 titanium fasteners at its Virginia facility and said production was expanding to meet U.S. Army and commercial programs. The Army awarded the company its second work order under an SBIR Phase III contract, with a base value of $18.5 million, of which $11.5 million is initially funded. The work order’s potential value, including options, could reach $25.4 million. In another commercial track, the company tested components for Carver Pump before any broad commercial orders, according to its report; this stage forms part of customer product qualification. The company’s expansion in the U.S. market is based on a domestic sourcing strategy, as it says the United States has no commercial titanium sponge production, while China and Russia together control about 80% of global production capacity.
The company ended the quarter with cash of $63 million on September 30, compared with $35.2 million on June 30. It added $33.7 million in committed, refundable government funding and estimated total available liquidity at about $96.7 million. By contrast, net operating cash outflow was $12.6 million during the quarter, which the company used to expand production, qualify products and conduct GenX research. These figures put funding resources alongside ongoing spending during the expansion phase; reported liquidity includes refundable government funding, while the outflow reflects the cost of the operating activities cited. IperionX says its near-term operating target is an annual production rate of about 200 tonnes by the end of 2026, with installed capacity for HAMR powder targeted at about 1,400 tonnes per year during 2027.