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DIGGeRs & DeALeRs

Dubbo gets its chance

Dubbo will get unbridled attention
virtual EGM on July 16 has been set for ASM has a number of works in the pipe- housed under the Australian Strategic
A Alkane Resources Ltd shareholders to line and won’t be short on information for Materials umbrella
decide on the proposed demerger of the the market, however, it may need to bring
Dubbo project into Australian Strategic Ma- investors up to speed with the broader story
terials Ltd (ASM). unfolding at Dubbo. from rare earths – neodymium, praseodym-
Alkane’s discovery success at Boda, Dubbo, central west New South Wales, ium, dysprosium and terbium – and then
Tomingley and the gangbuster gold envi- has been part of Alkane’s portfolio for more we have also got niobium and hafnium. We
ronment has inspired the demerger propos- than a decade. Since extensive pilot testing are not solely reliant on our rare earths for
al, which will see ASM ($20 million cash at at ANSTO in 2008, it has confirmed sepa- returns from the project so we will have to
as April 1) list on the ASX at the end of July, rated and refined material from the project educate the market on that,” he said.
subject to necessary approvals, with Dubbo can be converted to high purity metals via Interest in the metallisation process is in-
as its flagship asset. Zirconium Technology Corp’s (ZironTech) creasing, as is the development of Dubbo
“As the gold business is successful and process. where there is an opportunity to optimise
there is renewed interest in rare earths, we Together with Korean-based JV partner the flowsheet with the addition of a flotation
find ourselves with people investing in the ZironTech, and through its investment in circuit.
company for two very different reasons. RMR Tech, ASM is commissioning a clean “We expect to see lower capital and opex
There is a philosophical disagreement metal metallisation plant for operations to [at Dubbo], which will just mean a better re-
about the allocation of capital between start in Q3. turn for the project and shareholders. As we
those two investor groups and that’s part of Recently, ASM and ZironTech were progress with the metallisation and the de-
why we are demerging,” Alkane managing awarded $US4.5 million in grants from velopment of Dubbo, we are starting to get
director Nic Earner told Paydirt. the Korean Government’s Industrial Tech- people contact us about various offtakes
“A clean and clear ASM brings the oppor- nological programme for clean metals re- and potential for a strategic partner, which
tunity to attract investors who want to put search and development purposes. is encouraging for us,” Woodall said.
money after that in the allocated portfolio of “With COVID-19, trade tensions and Domestically, the Australian Govern-
critical minerals and also line up debt with- other impacts in the industry and global ment’s Critical Minerals Facilitation Office
out any hang up or pricing influence from economy, the Korean Government has set up earlier this year has been a boon
the gold side of the business.” realised that it wants to ensure security of for companies like ASM and projects like
David Woodall will head ASM as manag- its key commodities within its manufactur- Dubbo.
ing director at what is shaping as a good ing industry. Therefore, it is investing over “If we reduce our opex and capex to
time to be developing specialty materials $US5 billion in research and development add value to our revenue streams through
for advanced technologies. on specific minerals and metals, and we metallisation, that will put us in a unique po-
“The achievement of commercial produc- were very fortunate with our JV partners sition in the market,” Woodall said.
tion of zirconium and some rare earth met- to be allocated $US4.5 million for our work “We don’t have any natural peers to com-
als is on track to be our first announcement on metallisation in zirconium, titanium, neo- pare to. The difficulty with ASM is that when
[post-demerger], but there will be continu- dymium, praseodymium, rare earths and you look at other rare earth companies, over
ous information coming out because we are also niobium,” Woodall said. 85% of their revenue is generated through
not only working on the zirconium and rare “A lot of people would see us as part of rare earths and normally it will be the light
earths, we are looking at niobium and tita- the rare earths market, which is correct. But or heavy and there are few that have both.
nium metals, too,” Woodall told Paydirt. there is a two-pronged approach at Dubbo; “But because of our polymetallic nature,
“We’ll also be looking at providing up- we have the metallisation in South Korea it is very difficult to compare directly with
dates on progress of the concentrate flota- and the polymetallic project at Dubbo. many of the traditional rare earth compa-
tion as we progress to a more robust project “If you look at splits of revenue, about nies.”
in Dubbo.” 30-40% will come from zirconium, 30-40% – Mark Andrews

Page 48 JULY 2020 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT