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with Ban Chang, “We may even aim for zero [emissions] be-
Ta Cuong plus cause we have the hydropower and we could
the other 25 un- even become the first to develop a green
tested massive nickel mine,” Williamson said.
sulphide vein tar- With much of Blackstone’s focus in Vi-
gets identified at etnam – a country included in the Regional
Ta Khoa. Comprehensive Economic Partnership free
Following the appointment of former Me- “We will only announce drill holes that ma- trade agreement with Australia – Williamson
dusa Mining Ltd corporate development of- terially change the economics of the project. said the company had to consider how to ex-
ficer Patrick Chang in July, Blackstone has When you have a $US1 billion project it takes tract value from the other assets in its port-
since added Andrew Strickland (head of pro- a fairly significant hole to change the econom- folio.
ject development), who Williamson worked ics,” Williamson said. Blackstone’s West Australian projects in-
alongside at Perseus Mining Ltd, and Richard “We don’t want the market to focus on each clude the Silver Swan South (gold and nickel
Kitchener (general manager of operations), drill hole as they come. That is probably one near Kalgoorlie), Middle Creek (gold near
while Steve Ennor (project development) and of the reasons why some people left us, we Nullagine) and Red Gate gold project, 140km
Vu Hong Cam Van (commercial) have taken aren’t going to pump and dump, we were nev- north-east of Kalgoorlie, all of which carry no
the leap into general manager roles. er that stock but early on we obviously wanted value with the market at a time exploration
“We have a pretty strong, young executive to show the excitement that we saw. With a plays in the State are thriving.
team, with most of us under 40. When you market cap of $120 million it takes a signifi- “We are getting zero value for our non-core
have a good asset like this people begin to cant hole to change our future.” assets, so we are considering what to do with
come out of the woodwork and they still are,” Resources updates will be provided by them. It will be a big year [2021] for not only
Williamson said. Blackstone in due course, as Williamson Blackstone but a lot of junior mining stocks.
No doubt the newcomers to Blackstone touted the possibility of developing the world’s We have seen the lowest of lows and highest
not only see what is immediately in front of first green nickel mine. of highs in our share price within three months
the company, but also the potential ahead in With access to hydropower, the company during 2020, which I think will go down as the
Vietnam. will also look to reduce its overall footprint at start of one of the bull markets for resources,”
At the time of print, nine drill rigs were in op- Ta Khoa by looking at potential smaller under- Williamson said.
eration, as Blackstone looks to follow on from ground mines and using electric equipment – Mark Andrews
the discovery success at King Cobra starting as much as possible.

Decision on FYI/Alcoa JV looming

he potential for ASX junior FYI Resourc- integrated Cadoux/Kwinana HPA project
Tes Ltd to strike a JV agreement with Al- ($US189 million capex), has been validated
coa of Australia Ltd to strategically develop by Alcoa’s interest and an earlier commit-
the former’s HPA project in Western Austral- ment by Luxembourg private equity group
ia was growing at the time of print. – GEM Global Yield LLC SCS (GEM) – to
As the two companies progressed the provide FYI with an equity financing facility
finer details of a potential JV, outlined in of up to $80 million to support development
an MoU signed in September, it was an- of the HPA project.
nounced that a leading European HPA “Alcoa doesn’t do JVs all that often, it is
player had confirmed that detailed testing of not part of their normal day-to-day busi-
FYI’s HPA product was suitable for market ness. I think they have realised that to expe-
applications. dite their entry into this exceptional industry IMO general manager Alex Borger with FYI
Furthermore, the tests highlighted “ad- they need certain help and us being a little managing director Roland Hill at the pilot plant
ditional commercial advantages for FYI’s company is an advantage in this case,” FYI facility in Welshpool. IMO has been involved
HPA”. managing director Roland Hill told Paydirt. with pilot plant trials
For the last 2.5 years, FYI has success- “Thankfully, after a significant amount of “About 50% of our business is traditional
fully developed a mineable kaolin resource due diligence on the market and a number LEDs and other industries and applications
at Cadoux, 220km north-east of Perth, and of other factors Alcoa decided to join us in but certainly the upside of our business
mapped out a scenario whereby it can mine a MoU moving towards a JV on the project. model is through battery applications. Te-
to a schedule to match supply requirements I think both parties bring significant positive sla and other development groups like that
of a proposed refinery at Kwinana. attributes to make this thing a success. We means we will be dragged along in that vor-
Now it has conducted extensive pilot have a bit of work to do under the JV um- tex,” Hill said.
plant trials consistently producing premium brella culminating in a decision in Decem- “We just completed our third detailed
HPA product, with ultra-low impurities bear- ber to move to an [official] JV. The equity study trial and we are keen to see the out-
ing “exceptional quality and characteristics”. arrangement between the two parties is not come of that and the designed product
Samples from the pilot have been inde- yet established, we are still working through requested by a number of clients. We are
pendently analysed in the US, as FYI has that.” looking to further develop our offtake ar-
always proved it can tailor end-product spe- LEDs represent one area of the market rangements, while we will be completing
cific to potential customer requirements. HPA is traditionally used in, however, it is more detailed work with Alcoa along with
The leg work completed by FYI to date, the battery sector where there is growing permitting work at Kwinana.”
including a DFS in March on the 8,000 tpa demand.

aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT DeCeMBeR 2020 - JaNUaRY 2021 Page 99