Alkane Resources Ltd · ASX:ALK
Alkane Resources — Texas conference on semiconductor materials (May 2017)
31 slides from Alkane Resources's conference presentation, May 12, 2017
Slide 1: High k Sourcing & the Supply Chain for Hafnium and Zirconium
High k Sourcing & the Supply Chain for Hafnium and Zirconium For personal use only © 2017 Alkane Resources Ltd
Slide 2: Technology
Technology For personal use only Source: Hewlett Packard Enterprise © 2017 Alkane Resources Ltd 2
Slide 3: Collection of Big Data by Sensors & Actuators
Collection of Big Data by Sensors & Actuators “Australian Strategic Materials & Alkane For personal use only can supply up to 19 critical elements” Connecting people and processes ubiquitously for Smart Systems and IoT Gold Silver © 2017 Alkane Resources Ltd Tantalum 3
Slide 4: Hafnium: The ideal memory material
Hafnium: The ideal memory material First use of HfO2 For personal use only • DRAM Memory (by Samsung 90 nm 2003/2004): • Transition from HfO2 to ZrO2 took place at 65 nm • High-k & Metal Gate (Intel; 45 nm, 2007): • HfO2 is still in use Source: Techchet CA LLC © 2017 Alkane Resources Ltd 4
Slide 5: Hafnium: The ideal memory material
Hafnium: The ideal memory material For personal use only Source: ferroelectric-memory.com Source: ferroelectric-memory.com © 2017 Alkane Resources Ltd 5
Slide 6: 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' • In its natural state it is always bound up with zi
Slide 7: Properties of hafnium
Properties of hafnium For personal use only Melting point: 2233°C, 4051°F, 2506 K Boiling Point: 4600°C 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
Slide 8: Hafnium traded as
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/I http://onyxmet.com/?route=pr tems/072.5/index.html oduct/product&product_id=795 © 2017 Alkane Resourc
Slide 9: 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$2-3B • Zirconium metal 5-6,000 tpa
Slide 10: Zr-Hf separation process
Zr-Hf separation process Zr feed For personal use only Zr:Hf 50:1 1,000t : 20t HfO2 17t Hf metal Source: http://www.areva.com/EN/operations-913/jarrie-production-of-zirconium-sponge.html • Main source of hafnium is the Nuclear industry, where it must be removed from zirconium to produce hafnium free
Slide 11: Current world supply
Current world supply 2016 Hafnium supply For personal use only • By-product from zirconium metal purification Estimated 70 tonnes <1t – Depends on nuclear industry <1t 2t 2t • Prices escalating through demand by aerospace 10t Areva industries 2014 into 2015 ATI Wah Chang • 3 western companies Revert
Slide 12: Historical hafnium pricing
Historical hafnium pricing Hafnium Pricing (2009 – 2017) For personal use only US$/kg 2,250 2,000 1,750 1,500 1,250 1,000 750 500 Time © 2017 Alkane Resources Ltd 12
Slide 13: Chinese zirconium metal capacities
Chinese zirconium metal capacities Company Industrial Nuclear Grade Nuclear Grade Expansion For personal use only Grade tpa Plans by 2020 tpa tpa State Nuclear WEC - 1,500 2,500 Guangdong Orient 600 150 1,000 Jinan H-Technology 0 0 400 Others 1,400 100 300 Total 2,000 1,750 4,200 Hafnium supply 0 30
Slide 14: China's Zirconium Industry Challenges
China’s Zirconium Industry Challenges 1. Zirconium chemicals For personal use only • Dealing with U+Th waste residues for ZOC production • ZOC production of 210,000 tpa requires 130,000 tpa zircon • Contains 65 tpa of U+Th • Where does it go now and in the future? • Occupational health and safety is
Slide 15: China: Critical Supply Issues to 2025
China: Critical Supply Issues to 2025 For personal use only Source: European Chamber of Commerce, China © 2017 Alkane Resources Ltd 15
Slide 16: China Manufacturing 2025: A warning
China Manufacturing 2025: A warning Ambitious goals: 10 advanced Factory of the world (2015) For personal use only industries & technologies • 90%+of world's mobile phones • US$100Bs of support: subsidies, funds, • 80%+ of world's air- and "other” conditioners • Move away from low value, and • 80%+
Slide 17: China: Critical Supply Issues to 2025
China: Critical Supply Issues to 2025 For personal use only Source: European Chamber of Commerce, China © 2017 Alkane Resources Ltd 17
Slide 18: China: Critical Supply Issues to 2025
China: Critical Supply Issues to 2025 For personal use only 1. China Manufacturing 2025 is targeting 70-80% domestic supply by 2005 for key high value markets • Critical supply risk for rare earths as China supplies 90+ % of world supply • High growth rates for magnets will reduce supply for export-
Slide 19: 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
Slide 20: Other potential hafnium demand
Other potential hafnium demand 1. Reusable spacecraft For personal use only • Hafnium offers extreme heat and creep resistance • SpaceX uses C103 -10% hafnium & 90% niobium metals • Blue Origin, NASA, European Space Agency • U.K. Space agency, Russia/China/India/other 2. Thermoelectric generators 3.
Slide 21: Hafnium Demand outlook 2016 - 2026
Hafnium Demand outlook 2016 - 2026 Depends on existing producers + expanded Russia/China supply For personal use only - Not sufficient for base-case demand growth -Constrained or abundant: If supply is more - Will impact price or substitution endeavours abundant demand may emerge from new sectors Pr
Slide 22: Dubbo Project
Dubbo Project • Large polymetallic resource - zirconium, hafnium, For personal use only niobium (tantalum), yttrium and rare earths • Defined resource supports 80+ years at 1 m tpa • Pilot Plant at ANSTO has operated since 2008 Dubbo Project • All State & Federal environment approved • Outotec Finni
Slide 23: A new Hf supply – Dubbo Project
A new Hf supply – Dubbo Project • Hafnium concentrate has been successfully produced on the For personal use only hafnium pilot plant at ANSTO from the zirconium refining circuit • Orebody contains ~450 ppm hafnium oxide – 1 million tpa production rate x 450 ppm = 450 tpa – 50% recovery: ~200 tpa of
Slide 24: Separation Process
Separation Process For personal use only © 2017 Alkane Resources Ltd 24
Slide 25: 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 25
Slide 26: Product Output
Product Output For personal use only Dubbo Project Process Plant 6,664 tpa Rare earth chemical concentrate 95% REO (REO units) 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
Slide 27: Rare Earth Output
Rare Earth Output For personal use only Dubbo Project REE SX Toll treatment – off site Rare Earth Concentrates La2O3 1,441 tpa La / Ce CeO2 2,367 tpa Pr6O11 237tpa Pr / Nd Nd2O3 921tpa Sm2O3 112tpa Sm / Eu / Gd Eu2O3 3tpa Gd2O3 107tpa Tb / Dy / Ho / Er / Tb4O7 14tpa Tm / Yb / Lu Dy2O3 122tpa Y (2/3N
Slide 28: Conclusions
Conclusions Ideal Hafnium Supply Scenario? For personal use only ✔ Independent of nuclear fuel industry ✔ Independent of Zircon ✔ Independent of Chinese zirconium industry ✔ Sustainable and traceable supply ✔ Urban mining to recycle end of life materials ✔ Complementary other technology metals ✔ Low
Slide 29: For personal use only
Heading goes here For personal use only Alister MacDonald General Manager - Marketing amacdonald@alkane.com.au +61 459 887 299 www.alkane.com.au 29 © 2017 Alkane Resources Ltd
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
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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