At the Southern Virginia Technology Park this week, signs of IperionX’s impending arrival in Halifax County were hard to miss.

One enormous sign said it all.

On Tuesday, crews mounted the lettering to herald the new home of the titanium manufacturer at the SVTP’s shell building on Philpott Highway. IperionX is opening a titanium recycling and manufacturing center inside the hulking structure.

First announced in late September, the project is coming together according to schedule, said Dominic Allen, chief commercial officer for Charlotte, N.C.-based IperionX. Allen said the South Boston plant is expected to begin commissioning in the fourth quarter of 2023, and will be operational by the first quarter of 2024.

Over a three-year span, IperionX is forecast to hire up to 108 employees in South Boston, according to the announcement last year by Gov. Glenn Youngkin of the company’s decision to expand into Virginia.

Allen said this week that IperionX expects to start hiring in advance of the project development, but the job totals will not be fully settled until after the company’s board makes a final investment decision on the South Boston operation, expected to come in the third quarter of this year.

From plain observation Tuesday at the technology park, the company’s debut in town is a big deal — as big as the letters hung on the front of the shell building.

On hand to witness the sign placement was Troy Crysler, general manager for IperionX in South Boston. “We’re getting our name up there,” he said.

Crysler, who recently moved to South Boston from San Antonio, Texas, said work remains to be done inside the building to prepare it for operation as a titanium recycling and manufacturing facility. The Halifax County Industrial Development Authority is handling the upfit of the building, a process that involves creating office space and an additive manufacturing area inside the building, along with a massive shop floor for taking in recyclable titanium. 
IperionX anticipates recycling 125 metric tons of titanium per year, producing titanium powder that can be used in a wide range of applications. The company says it is aiming to ramp up production in South Boston to 1,125 metric tons per year, which “would furnish IperionX with the largest recycled titanium metal powder production capacity globally, the only titanium production facility using 100 percent titanium metal scrap as a feedstock,” according to a statement.

“This will also be the only such facility with zero Scope 1 & 2 emissions with the lowest carbon intensity for any commercial titanium metal powder product,” the company said.

Added Allen, “We are delighted to be participating in the South Virginia community and look forward to growing strong partnerships with stakeholders in the region.”

From SoVANow