Neometals Remains Committed to Getting the Best Possible Deal for Shareholders for Titanium Project

About Neometals Ltd

Neometals Ltd (ASX: NMT, LSE: NMT) is an innovative and sustainable mining company focused on developing its core projects and commercializing its proprietary technologies for recovering metals from waste streams. Headquartered in West Perth, Australia, Neometals aims to supply critical battery materials such as lithium, nickel, cobalt and titanium in an environmentally responsible manner.

One of the company’s assets is the high-grade Barrambie Titanium Project in Western Australia. Neometals also owns three core technologies to extract valuable metals from lithium-ion batteries and industrial by-products via recycling and recovery processes. The company partners with established industry leaders to commercialize these technologies globally.

Barrambie Titanium Project

Barrambie is Neometals’ mineral sands asset, located approximately 80km Northwest of Sandstone in Western Australia and is one of the largest vanadiferous-titanomagnetite (“VTM”) resources globally (280.1Mt at 9.18% TiO₂ and 0.44% V₂O₅), containing the world’s second highest-grade hard rock titanium resource (53.6Mt at 21.17% TiO₂ and 0.63% V₂O₅) and high-grade vanadium resource (64.9Mt at 0.82% V₂O₅ and 16.9% TiO₂) subsets based on the latest Neometals 2018 Mineral Resource Estimate.

Barrambie contains valuable titanium dioxide minerals like ilmenite and leucoxene that can be processed into quality feedstock suitable for titanium pigment and titanium metal producers.

In May 2023, Neometals completed an enhanced pre-feasibility study on Barrambie, outlining a Probable Ore Reserve of 27.6 Mt at 22.3% TiO2, 43.7% Fe2O3 and 0.57% V2O5 and a 13 year life of mine.

Advancing Barrambie’s Development

To advance Barrambie toward development, Neometals has been focused on securing binding offtake agreements with qualified partners that could also provide project investment.

In April 2023, the company signed a non-binding offtake term sheet with Jiuxing Titanium Materials Co. Ltd, one of China’s largest titanium producers. The term sheet proposed that Jiuxing would purchase 50% of Barrambie’s future titanium concentrate output.

While unable to reach a binding offtake agreement, Neometals stated that both parties invested considerable efforts to evaluate the feasibility of utilizing Barrambie concentrate within Jiuxing’s downstream processing facilities.

Although disappointing for both sides, changing macroeconomic conditions led Jiuxing to adjust its production plans, preventing further work on Barrambie at this time. Neometals remains engaged with Jiuxing and other titanium producers despite this setback.

Diversified Options to Unlock Barrambie’s Potential

Despite headwinds securing binding offtake amid challenging titanium market conditions, Neometals has diversified options to advance Barrambie’s development and get the best possible deal for shareholders.

The company continues discussions with other qualified titanium producers and mining groups regarding potential offtake deals, capital investment and development partnerships. Bringing in a strategic partner through a partial project sale or joint venture could accelerate Barrambie’s path to production.

The recent pre-feasibility study highlighted Barrambie’s inherent value and competitive advantages, including simple metallurgy, shallow open pit mineralization and proximity to infrastructure like the Great Northern Highway.

With probable reserves containing 9.5 million tonnes of high-grade titanium dioxide, Barrambie remains a unique long-life development asset. Neometals believes Barrambie will be a valuable project in its portfolio when market conditions improve.

Emerging Technologies in Battery Recycling

Beyond Barrambie, Neometals has growth opportunities in lithium-ion battery recycling and sustainable extraction technologies needed to supply critical materials for the global energy transition.

The company co-owns a proprietary process for recovering nickel, cobalt and lithium from spent EV and consumer batteries. This technology is commercialized through the Primobius battery recycling JV, which is constructing its first commercial plant in Germany.

Neometals also owns an innovative lithium extraction process for producing battery-grade chemicals sustainably from brine and spodumene. Evaluation continues toward a potential lithium hydroxide operation in Portugal.

Additionally, the company is progressing a vanadium recovery project in Finland to extract high-purity vanadium from steel manufacturing waste.

Conclusion

With its world-class Barrambie titanium asset and exposure to battery material recycling technologies, Neometals Ltd is positioned at the forefront of sustainable mineral and metal supply chains.

Near-term headwinds securing binding offtake for Barrambie pose challenges. However, Neometals remains committed to realizing Barrambie’s potential, progressing discussions with new partners. Successful commercialization of its emerging recycling ventures provide further avenues for value creation.

For investors, Neometals offers leverage to the battery materials megatrend underpinned by its proprietary technologies and operational expertise. The company represents an ESG-focused, long-term opportunity to play the global energy transition. Execution risks remain, but Neometals has diverse options to advance its portfolio of sustainable metal production.