Hyperion Metals (HYM) - Technical Analysis

Hyperion Metals is an Australian based ASX-listed company with the primary focus of becoming a leading developer of zero-carbon and sustainable critical materials. The company aims to supply titanium, rare earth materials and high-grade silica sand, to US markets such as aerospace, space and electric vehicles.

Merlin Marr-Johnson caught up with Hyperion Metals (ASX: HYM) CEO, Anastasios Arima.

Company Overview

The company is currently underway with the changing of its name to Iperion X Limited. after its shareholders voted to approve the new name at a general meeting held in February 2022. The company is also pursuing a US-listing in the coming months and believes its US-listing will enable it to expand its US investor base. The US-listing of the company is not aimed at raising funds, rather at registering the company to the NASDAQ.

Hyperion Metals has secured an option to acquire Blacksand Technology, LLC until the end of 2022. The acquisition is aimed at acquiring the rights of the HAMR and GSD technologies, which enable the low-cost production of various titanium products, currently held by Blacksand Technology LLC.  

The Titan Heavy Mineral Sand project of the company hosts titanium and zircon prospective heavy mineral sands and is strategically located in the southeast of the US. The company offers the advantage of titanium feedstock to the US market, which is local, instead of imported feedstock. 

Hyperion Metals has seen much activity in the last few months and boasts various projects as well as future prospects that include supply agreements, revolutionary technologies and many other exciting developments with the potential to disrupt the titanium, aluminium and stainless steel industries.  

Titan Heavy Mineral Sand project

The Titan Heavy Mineral Sand project is a titanium and zircon heavy mineral sands property located in Tennessee in the United States of America (USA). The USA is the second-largest importer of titanium feedstock in the world. The imported titanium feedstock is primarily used in the production of TiO2 pigments for the coatings and plastics sector, and the production of titanium metal for the aerospace, space, medical and defence industries. The USA imported 95% of its titanium feedstock in 2019, equating to an import value of AUD$ 1,200 million.

The location of the Titan Heavy Mineral Sand project is of strategic importance as its southeast location provides significant logistical advantages over current US feedstock sources. The Chemour Company’s New Johnsonville pigment plant, one of the largest pigment plants in the world, lies just 15 km away from the Titan Heavy Mineral sand project. Other major US titanium and metal plants are easily accessible from the Titan Heavy Mineral Sand project as well with its proximity to low-cost barge, truck or rail transportation services.

The company is currently underway with a scoping study at the Titan Heavy Mineral Sand project which will be conducted by global engineering firm Hatch and is expected to be published in the coming months.

Milford Base Metals Project

The Milford Base Metals project is an approximate 8.36 km2 land package approximately 6 km west of Milford Utah. The project is accessible through maintained gravel roads and farm tracks, with power lines and gas pipelines in the Southeast portion of the project.

Utah is ranked amongst the top 10 most attractive mining jurisdictions in the world regarding geological and mineral policy attractiveness. Utah also hosts Rio Tinto’s Bingham Canyon copper mine, one of the largest open-pit mines in the world. The company has the benefit of operating in a well-established mining jurisdiction which improves its ability to implement its business plan in a timely and cost-effective manner.

The processes of the feedstock derived from the company’s projects are envisioned to implement the HAMR and GSD processes, invented by Dr Z. Zak Fang and his team at the University of Utah. Hyperion Metals has signed licensing agreements for both the HAMR and GSD processes and is also currently underway with a potential acquisition of Blacksand Technology, LLC. the owner of the HAMR and GSD technologies.

HAMR and GSD technologies.

The Hydrogen Assisted Magnesiothermic reduction process or HAMR process is a low cost and environmentally friendlier approach to titanium metal production than traditional processes. The HAMR process utilises hydrogen gas (H2) to destabilise titanium dioxide (TiO2) and thermodynamically favour the magnesium assisted reduction of TiO2 to titanium hydroxide (TiH2). The titanium hydroxide can then be further refined to titanium metal by standard industry practices. The HAMR process has the potential to produce titanium powders with low to zero carbon intensity. The energy consumption and processing costs associated with traditional refining processes are also reduced by the HAMR process whilst it delivers a higher quality product than the industry standard. Hyperion Metals has signed an exclusive licensing agreement for the HAMR technology and plans to implement it at its large-scale titanium deposit at the Titan Heavy Mineral Sand Project in Tennessee.

The company also owns the exclusive rights to the patented Granulation-Sintering-Deoxygenation (GSD) technology, which enables the production of zero-carbon, low-cost spherical titanium powders. The GSD technology will be implemented to produce titanium and titanium alloy powders that have low oxygen, controllable particle size and excellent flowability characteristics. The feedstock of the GSD process will be the product produced by the HAMR technology. The GSD technology also enables higher manufacturing yields than current processes whilst also having the potential of being a zero-carbon process, should it be coupled with renewable power sources.

The combination of the HAMR and GSD technologies has the potential of opening various new markets to the company and disrupting not only the titanium market but the aluminium and stainless-steel markets as well.

Hyperion metals announced on the 6th of January 2022,  that it intends to pursue a listing on the NASDAQ stock exchange as well as change its name to Iperion X Limited.

US-Listing and name Change

The name change of the company was officially approved in a general shareholders meeting held on the 9th of February 2022. The company, which will now officially be known as Iperion X Ltd. will in due course also have a new ASX-listing code, namely IPX. The company’s change of name was the result of a potential conflict in the US with another registered company.

The company is also underway with its application to be listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange. The company believes that it's listing on the NASDAQ will enhance its visibility and accessibility to the US retail and institutional investors market.

Anastasios Arima stated in a 6th of January 2022 press release that:

“The proposed listing is expected to create greater awareness of our U.S.-focused critical minerals and metals technologies in the United States, providing exposure to enormous investor demand in a market which has a deep understanding for advanced technologies that support global decarbonization efforts, such as Hyperion’s low carbon titanium metal technologies. We believe that access to a much larger pool of capital will provide the potential for increased liquidity and enhanced value for our shareholders.”

Acquisitions, agreements and future plans

Alongside the company’s change of name and its NASDAQ stock exchange listing, the company has also announced the option to acquire Blacksand Technology, LLC. as well as signing a memorandum of understanding with Mario Pilato and the Chemours company.

Hyperion Metals entered into an agreement for the option to acquire Blacksand Technology, LLC which is valid until the 31st of December 2022. The company believes that the acquisition of Blacksand Technology, LLC will lead to it establishing itself as a titanium and critical materials market leader. The acquisition will include an operational pilot titanium production facility in Utah, USA, which is already producing titanium metals powders. The pilot titanium production facility can also be upgraded to produce titanium minerals, titanium metal and titanium spherical powders. The acquisition of Blacksand Technology, LLC will also provide security and control over the HAMR and GSD technologies which are held by Blacksand Technology, LLC.

Hyperion Metals has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the potential supply of zircon and titanium products with Mario Pilato and Chemours respectively. The MOU with Mario Pilato, one of the world’s largest suppliers of raw materials for ceramics, glass and refractories, contemplates a supply agreement for an initial five-year term. The supply agreement is based on an agreed market-based pricing policy for the annual supply of up to 20,000 tonnes of zircon products. The global Zircon demand is driven primarily by China for casting and refractory applications, with a benchmark price reported to be over USD$ 2,000 per ton. Zircon supply volumes, product quality and pricing are still to be confirmed with Mario Pilato after the completion of a scoping study at the Titan Heavy Mineral Sand Project, scheduled for the coming months.

The MOU with the Chemours Company, one of the world’s largest producers of high-quality titanium dioxide products for coatings, plastics, and laminates encapsulates the supply of titanium feedstocks as well as staurolite for an initial period of 5 years. The supply agreement will include the annual supply of 50,000 tons of ilmenite, 10,000 tons of rutile and 10,000 tons of staurolite.

The company’s recent activities and technologies show the potential of Hyperion Metals, or as it will be referred to shortly, Iperion X Ltd. to become a market leader in the US critical material supply chain.

The company plans to enter into more strategic partnerships with the CEO Anastasios Arima stating:

“…strategic partnerships can bring minimal or non-dilutive funding opportunities, and maximise our interaction with the current government programs.”

Strategic partnerships will also enable continuous revenue for the company.

The company is well financed for its current plans and believes that as it continues to deliver on its promises to the market, it will be able to maximise valuation and minimise shareholder dilution should it need to raise funds in the future. Anastasios Arima states

“…the share price and the valuation, I want to push that because I want to minimise dilution, not just for myself, but all my shareholders. Therefore, I'm not concerned about what happens day to day. I'm just very much focused on trying to create that value to minimise dilution when we do have to raise capital.”

Should Hyperion Metals deliver on its plans, it may well be poised to be a leading developer of zero-carbon and sustainable critical materials and a valuable part of the US supply chain.

To find out more, go to the Hyperion Metals website