KUCHING: Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd has entered into a collaboration agreement with Xi’an Jiaotong University (XJTU) of China on carbon capture and utilisation research and development.
The agreement is in researching and developing economically viable methods to concentrate, capture and utilise the direct carbon emission that arises from the manufacturing process of Press Metal group’s operation (project), Southeast Asia’s largest integrated aluminium producer said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia.
The agreement was inked less than a year after Press Metal and XJTU signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the proposed collaboration on August 29, 2023.
XJTU is a key university which is directly administered by the Chinese Education Ministry, and is one of the oldest current institutions of higher education in China. The predecessor of XJTU was Nanyang College, which was founded in 1896 in Shanghai and renamed Jiaotong University in 1921.
In 1956, the main body of Jiaotong University was moved to Xi’an according to the decision issued by the State Council, and was formally named Xi’an Jiaotong University in 1959, which was listed as a national key university.
According to Press Metal, XJTU is a top university in China, which provides the experiment and simulation infrastructure.
The group has conducted 13 scientific research projects and presided over the first batch of original projects of National Natural Science Foundation of China related to carbon dioxide capture, and enterprise projects, such as CO2 capture in China National Oil Offshore Company and CO2 capture in Enfield Industrial Flue Gas.
The group has published 60 papers in international journals granted by 10 patents in CO2 capture field. The group won the Excellent Doctoral Dissertation Award of Shaanxi Province and the Excellent Advisor Award of Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society.
“This collaboration aims to develop an economically viable carbon capture and utilisation model towards a greener and more sustainable future for Press Metal group,” said the company.
Press Metal will contribute a total grant of RMB12 million (RM7.734 million) to XJTU based on successful milestones, including system design, research fee, professional training programmes, resources and transfer of knowledge.
The parties will establish a joint committee to identify, plan and manage the project collaboration in accordance with the agreement. The committee will set the overall direction, plan and decisions for the project.
“The new intellectual property rights developed and obtained jointly by the parties during the project shall be jointly owned by both Press Metal and XJTU,” said the company.
The project commenced on Sept 1, 2023 and is expected to complete by Aug 31, 2026 or such other extension as may be mutually agreed in writing by the parties.
In an unrelated corporate development, Borneo Oil Bhd said it had submitted the listing application in relation to its proposed bonus issue of warrants, termination of existing employees’ share option scheme (ESOS) and an establishment of a new ESOS to Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd on July 19, 2024.
Borneo Oil, which owns home-grown fast food restaurant chain SugarBun, has proposed a bonus issue of warrants up to 3,520,107,297 Warrants E on the basis of one Warrant E for every four existing shares held by entitled shareholders on an entitlement date to be determined later.
The company has proposed an establishment of a new ESOS of up to 15 per cent of the total number of issued shares in Borneo Oil (excluding treasury shares, if any) at any points in time over the duration of the ESOS for eligible persons.
Subject to all relevant approvals being obtained, the proposals are expected to be completed by fourth quarter of 2024.
