PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Newly spun-out Australian Strategic Materials (ASM) started trading on the ASX on Thursday, opening at a price of A$1.25 a share.
ASM on Thursday also reported that its Korean joint venture partner ZirconTech had successfully completed the first production run of neodymium (Nd) metal at its commercial pilot plant, producing 7.6 kg of Nd from its patented process in South Korea.
The pilot plant test work focuses on advancing oxide separation and metallisation technologies to create a range of value-added materials from the Dubbo project.
“This is a significant result for ASM, as this process has resulted in the production of Nd metal at a higher purity than typically traded,” said MD David Woodall of the first metal production.
“Our strategy of integrating the products from our Dubbo project into metals that can deliver to end-use customers continues as we progress clean metal production and secure the financing needed for project development.
“It is possible that a standalone clean metal plant could be built in Korea to feed critical metals to Korean industry, but also possible that another clean metal plant could be located within Australia to feed critical metals for advanced Australian manufacturing.”