Murdoch University researchers are working to transform how titanium metal is produced by developing a more efficient, lower-cost and lower-emission alternative to current methods.

Titanium is a critical global metal used in everything from aircraft and defence systems to medical implants and renewable energy technologies. It is prized for its exceptional strength, low weight and resistance to corrosion.

However, traditional titanium production relies on the Kroll process, a multi-step method which is costly, energy intensive and generates significant waste.

London-based resources company, Empire Metals, has commissioned Murdoch’s Extractive Metallurgy Hub to help develop an advanced process for converting titanium dioxide (TiO₂) into titanium metal using molten salt electrolysis, powered by renewable energy.

Molten salt electrolysis is a process that uses electricity in a high‑temperature liquid salt bath to strip oxygen from titanium dioxide and produce pure titanium metal directly.

Professor Aleks Nikoloski, who leads the Extractive Metallurgy Hub at Murdoch University’s Rockingham campus, said the project represents an important step forward for both research and industry.

“This is about rethinking how we produce one of the world’s most important strategic metals,” he said.

“We are working to demonstrate that titanium can be produced more efficiently and with a significantly reduced environmental footprint by moving away from traditional, energy-intensive processes.”

The TiO₂ will be sourced from Empire Metals’ Pitfield Project, located in WA’s Mid-West. The site is one of the largest and highest-grade titanium deposits in the world and has the potential to become a new major supplier.

Professor Nikoloski said the work reinforces WA’s ambition to become a leader in critical minerals processing.

“WA has one of the world’s most powerful mining sectors, but much of that value is still realised overseas, where raw materials are processed into finished products,” he said.

“This work highlights a clear opportunity to shift more of that value chain locally — to not only extract critical minerals, but to process and refine them in the state, creating new capability, new industries and greater economic resilience.

“By developing advanced processing technologies locally, WA can position itself not just as a supplier of resources, but as a global leader in how those resources are transformed into the materials of the future.”

The research program is expected to run through 2026 and aims to deliver both proof-of-concept results and a pathway for scaling the technology to pilot and commercial operations.

Both Empire Metals and Murdoch University are part of Critical Metals for Critical Industries CRC — a collaboration between government, industry and academia to establish a globally competitive, sustainable, and sovereign critical metals refining industry in Australia.