Transcription of The Stock Network Interview with Neometals (ASX:NMT), Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Christopher Reed
Lel Smits: Neometals has opened the year with strong momentum receiving high-grade gold assets from recent RC drilling at the Ironclad and Mystery targets within its Baranby gold project in Western Australia. Also this week, Neometals through its 70:30 JV with Mineral Resources has inked a collaboration agreement with a global electrochemical leader, Donora. I’m joined today by Managing Director and CEO Christopher Reed to discuss the significance of the latest gold results and the ELI process collaboration.
Chris, welcome back to the Stock Network. Thank you very much, it’s a pleasure to be here. Pleasure to have you on and such a strong start to the year.
You’ve just reported strong intercepts at Ironclad and Mystery. I’m interested to hear what stood out to you in terms of these latest assays and also how do they shape your understanding of the gold system that you’re dealing with?
Christopher Reed: Yeah, sure. Up at Ironclad, I think we’ve taken that from February last year, we started our first drill results.
We announced a mineral resource estimate in June. We found another 61 historic RC holes in September. We finished our drill program in November and we’ve done 42 holes into Ironclad and another 14 at Mystery.
We’ve extended it along strike, down plunge. I think we’ve confirmed that it’s a stock work on the contact with the Gabbro and Meta sediments. I think what’s most pleasing is it’s wide, it’s high-grade, it’s increasing with grade and width as we go down plunge to the north.
I think it augurs really well for having the new mineral resource estimate that we’ll have out in early March. We’ve also got a letter of intent to develop Ironclad as an open pit in a production joint venture with BML Ventures. We’re in a mutual due diligence under a letter of intent and we hope to execute that agreement.
Hopefully, we can get it done in February. Excellent. Now, you’ve also secured a major partnership with Denora to integrate its industrial electrolysis systems into the Eli process through a fully integrated pilot plant.
Lel Smits: How does this agreement really accelerate Eli towards commercial maturity?
Christopher Reed: Yes, it is a real feather in the cap endorsement of our technology. We own it 70-30 with Minres. We completed piloting for Rio Tinto up at Rincon in 2023-24.
We negotiated an agreement with Rio to look at what we would call technology readiness level 7, which is the continuous piloting and demonstration of our technology. Essentially, what it does is it purifies Lithium Chloride brines and then electrolyzes them so that you can produce Lithium Hydroxide directly from the Lithium Chloride just using electricity. You’ve got a good process, the front part works.
You actually need the equipment at the back and we use conventional Chloralkali. To partner with one of the world’s leading Chloralkali OEMs is fantastic. Now, they’ve demonstrated Lithium Chloride electrolysis to demonstration stage ready for commercial rollout.
The collaboration will allow us to accelerate our purification piloting.
Lel Smits: Brilliant. Finally, Chris, with high-grade gold results driving near-term progress at and the e-live process advancing now, what do you think investors should be focusing on as Neometals works towards key milestones early this year?
Christopher Reed: For us, it’s all about getting into cash flow and to get ironclad developed.
That is our main focus. We’ve lodged a mining lease. We’re going through the native title and the mining studies and approvals are preparing for them.
That’s the main focus for ironclad. To be at that position within 12-months of starting our exploration out there is really good and we would hope to be mining within another 12-months. Generating cash is our main priority.
The Eli cooperation agreement with Rio Tinto and now including Dinora will just tick along in the background. We’re looking at that as a technology licensing business. We also have the ability to use that technology as a business development tool because it will halve the production cost of Lithium Hydroxide from Lithium Chloride.
We’ve done a number of studies over a decade on that. We have the option to access old oil and gas wells in Utah with a partner in the US. We’ve just extended our option for another 60 days.
Once that ticks off, you can expect us to look at increasing our Lithium exposure. We’ve been in Lithium since 2009. We are believers.
We’ve developed a hard rock mine. We’ve developed some processing technology. We’ve been in and then out of recycling.
Now we think it’s the right time to be heading back upstream in Lithium.
Lel Smits: Well, Chris, well done on such a strong start to the year. I look forward to following your developments as the year develops.
Thank you very much. Have a great day.
Ends.