Alkane Resources Ltd · ASX:ALK

Alkane Resources — Cleantech & Technology Metals Summit 2017

31 slides from Alkane Resources's conference presentation, May 16, 2017

  1. Slide 1: Hafnium: Cleaner power and transport, next gen devices

    Hafnium Cleaner power and transport Faster, more energy efficient For personal use only next gen devices

  2. Slide 2: What is hafnium?

    What is hafnium? For personal use only • A shiny, silvery metal that resists corrosion and can be drawn into wires. • Discovered in 1923 by George Charles de Hevesy and Dirk Coster • The name is derived from the Latin name for Copenhagen, 'Hafnia' Source: http://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/72

  3. Slide 3: Properties of hafnium

    Properties of hafnium For personal use only Melting point: 2233°C, 4051°F, 2506 K Boiling Point: 46000C Density (g cm−3) : 13.3 Key isotopes: 177Hf, 178Hf, 180Hf Electron configuration: [Xe] 4f145d26s2 • High thermal neutron absorption cross section (~600 times zirconia) • High stability & strength

  4. Slide 4: Hafnium forms traded

    Hafnium traded as For personal use only Hafnium Hafnium metal in Hafnium oxide tetrachloride ‘crystal form’ (HfO2) (HfCl4) Source: Source: Alkane Dubbo Project Source: http://www.periodictable.com/Items/072.5/index.html http://onyxmet.com/?route=product/product&produ ct_id=795 © 2017 Alkane Resource

  5. Slide 5: Zirconium Industry: hafnium source

    Zirconium Industry: hafnium source For personal use only Zircon Demand by End Use (2016 ~ 1.1 million tonnes) 1% of metal Other 3% Foundry 12% Ceramics 47% Chemicals 21% Refractory • China dominates downstream 17% zirconium industry (Supply 75+%) • Global market US$2-3B • Zirconium metal 5-6,000 tpa

  6. Slide 6: Supply - linked to nuclear industry

    Hafnium supply - linked to nuclear industry Zr feed For personal use only Zr:Hf 50:1 1,000t : 20t HfO2 17t Hf metal Source: http://www.areva.com/EN/operations-913/jarrie-production-of-zirconium-sponge.html • Most of the world’s hafnium metal has been produced as a by-product of the nuclear industry

  7. Slide 7: Current global demand

    Current global demand For personal use only 2016 Hafnium demand Estimated 67 tonnes 2t 2t Major markets 4.7t (global output by weight): Superalloy (60%) 7.4t Plasma cutting tips (15%) Nuclear control rod (11%) 40.2t Catalyst precursor (7%) 10.1t Semiconductors (3%) Oxide for Optical (3%) Source: Ros

  8. Slide 8: Current: Industrial gas turbines (IGT)

    Hafnium Applications - Current For personal use only Industrial gas turbines (IGT) Market sustained growth: • 18,800 gas turbine engines for power generation in 2014-2028 • 1-2% Hf NiCo alloys - High strength and stability at high temperatures • Dominated by GE, Siemens, Mitsubishi- Hitachi Power Sy

  9. Slide 9: Current: Aerospace – Jet engine

    Hafnium Applications - Current Aerospace – Jet engine For personal use only Passenger / military aircraft growth 100+% - next five years  Hafnium is used in the MAR M 247 superalloy in the hot part of jet engines (turbine blades and vanes).  1%-2% Hf in NiCo alloys increases operating temperature

  10. Slide 10: Current: Rocket engine nozzle

    Hafnium Applications - Current For personal use only Rocket engine nozzle ‘cone’ Emerging application requiring significant quantities of hafnium SpaceX Falcon9 Reusable rocket Merlin 1D engines • Niobium alloy C103 (89-90Nb, 9-10Hf, 1Ti) • Superior fabrication and mechanical properties up to http:/

  11. Slide 11: Current: Plasma cutting inserts

    Hafnium Applications - Current • Thermoelectric power generation – For personal use only converts heat to electricity Cooling – refrigeration???? Plasma cutting inserts • Operate at high temperatures • Hafnium is ideal as highest metal melting point in periodic table and conducts electricity © 2017

  12. Slide 12: Current: Plastics manufacture

    Hafnium Applications - Current • Thermoelectric power generation – For personal use only converts heat to electricity Plastics manufacture Cooling – refrigeration???? • Hafnium catalysts used in production of organic chemicals and pharmaceuticals. • Largest market is thermoplastics • More-efficient,

  13. Slide 13: Current: Nuclear control rods

    Hafnium Applications - Current For personal use only 449 Operating nuclear plants 60 Undergoing construction 170 Planned in China by 2050 • Hafnium is an excellent neutron absorber used in nuclear control rods to regulate the power in a reactor. • Corrosion resistant in hot water © 2017 Alkane Resou

  14. Slide 14: Next gen memory

    Hafnium Applications – next gen memory Permanent Memory For personal use only Ferroelectric micro-processing using HfO2 • Ultra-fast, low-power, non-volatile successor to flash memory • HfO2 already used in electronics and compatible with silicon fabrication techniques • k-gate chips, films, ferroel

  15. Slide 15: The ideal memory material

    Hafnium: The ideal memory material For personal use only Source: ferroelectric-memory.com

  16. Slide 16: Future: Thermoelectric power generation

    Hafnium Applications - future For personal use only Thermoelectric power generation converts waste heat into electricity • Using blends of hafnium and zirconium works better at temps up to 5000C compared to bismuth telluride up to 2500C and contains expensive telluride • Application for refrigeratio

  17. Slide 17: Thermoelectric power generation - Automobiles

    Hafnium Applications - thermoelectric Thermoelectric power generation - Automobiles For personal use only • More than 67% of fuel energy is wasted during the burning cycle as heat. • GM, BMW, Ford, Renault and Honda have all demonstrated their interest in thermoelectric generators to run ancillary s

  18. Slide 18: Future: Radiative cooling

    Hafnium Applications - Future For personal use only Radiative cooling Replacement of air conditioning • 15% of all energy use is air conditioning • Stanford developed new ultra- thin multi-layered HfO2 & SiO2 material reflects 97% sunlight • Coating sucks heat from sun- drenched building and radiate

  19. Slide 19: Future: Prostate cancer treatment

    Hafnium Applications - Future For personal use only Prostate cancer treatment • 1 in 7 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer • Second leading cause of cancer death in US • HfO2 nanoparticles in radiation oncology to destroy cancer cells is being trialled Source: http://labiotech.eu/nanobiotix-prost

  20. Slide 20: Historical hafnium pricing

    Historical hafnium pricing Hafnium Pricing (2009 – 2017) For personal use only ( ) 2,250 2,000 1,750 1,500 1,250 1,000 750 500 Time © 2017 Alkane Resources Ltd © 2016 Alkane Resources Ltd

  21. Slide 21: Current world supply

    Current world supply 2016 Hafnium supply For personal use only • By-product from zirconium metal purification Estimated 70 tonnes <1t – Depends on nuclear industry <1t 2t 2t • Prices escalating through demand by aerospace 10t Areva industries 2014 into 2015 ATI Wah Chang • 3 western companies Revert

  22. Slide 22: Where will supply come from?

    Where will supply come from? Current applications/markets to 2026: 152 tpa For personal use only • Existing producers + expanded Russia/China supply – not sufficient to meet base-case demand growth • Australian Strategic Materials (Alkane Resources Ltd subsidiary) Dubbo Project the only supply optio

  23. Slide 23: Dubbo Project

    Dubbo Project For personal use only • 400km northwest of Sydney • 25km from Dubbo city (pop~45,000) • Dubbo infrastructure – roads, rail, power, gas, light engineering, people • Large polymetallic resource - zirconium, hafnium, niobium (tantalum), yttrium and rare earths • 35 year reserve mine life

  24. Slide 24: Dubbo Project – Current Status

    Dubbo Project – Current Status • Pilot Plant at ANSTO has demonstrated For personal use only the flow sheet with products for market evaluation over 8 years • All State & Federal environment approvals • Front End Engineering Design (FEED) study confirmed robust technical & financial DFS • Outotec Fi

  25. Slide 25: Separation Process

    Separation Process For personal use only © 2017 Alkane Resources Ltd © 2016 Alkane Resources Ltd

  26. Slide 26: Modular Design

    Modular Design For personal use only Construction 2017 - 2019 Estimated cost US$480M --------------------- Construction 2022 - 2023 Estimated cost US$360M --------------------- Estimated total Cost US$840M © 2017 Alkane Resources Ltd © 2016 Alkane Resources Ltd

  27. Slide 27: Product Output

    Product Output For personal use only 6,664 tpa Rare earth chemical concentrate 95% REO (REO units) DP Process Plant 16,374 tpa Zirconium as ZBC (carbonate) & zirconia 99% ZrO2 (ZrO2 units) 50 tpa Hafnium as HfO2 concentrate HfO2 conc * (Hf units) 1,967 tpa Niobium as ferro-niobium 65% Nb (Nb units)

  28. Slide 28: Diversified products – lowers risks

    Diversified products – lowers risks Dubbo Project - product revenue split For personal use only Niobium 17% Magnet metals: Praseodymium, Neodymium, Dysprosium, Terbium, Samarium 25% Hafnium 10% Other rare earths, including yttrium 5% Zirconium 42% *Stage 1 revenue US$200 - 220M Opex US$120 – 130M *e

  29. Slide 29: For personal use only

    Heading goes here For personal use only Ian Chalmers Managing Director ichalmers@alkane.com.au www.alkane.com.au

  30. Slide 30: Disclaimer

    Disclaimer For personal use only This presentation contains certain forward looking statements and forecasts, including possible or assumed reserves and resources, production levels and rates, costs, prices, future performance or potential growth of Alkane Resources Ltd, industry growth or other tre

  31. Slide 31: Dubbo Project Resources & Reserves

    Dubbo Project Resources & Reserves For personal use only Dubbo Project – Mineral Resources Toongi Tonnage ZrO2 HfO2 Nb2O5 Ta2O5 Y2O3 REO Deposit (Mt) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) Measured 35.70 1.96 0.04 0.46 0.03 0.14 0.75 Inferred 37.50 1.96 0.04 0.46 0.03 0.14 0.75 Total 73.20 1.96 0.04 0.46 0.03 0.14

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