THE CONFERENCE CALLER: With the RIU Sydney Resources Roundup fast approaching, we thought it would be the ideal time to check in an a few of the companies that will be presenting to see what they’re up to.

FYI Resources (ASX: FYI)

FYI Resources has developed an innovative process design for the integrated production of high quality, high purity alumina (HPA) predominantly for electric vehicles (lithium-ion batteries), sapphire glass, LEDs / micro-LEDs and other broader tech applications.

FYI is positioning itself to be recognised by the marketplace as a producer of 4N and 5N HPA in the rapidly developing high-tech product markets.

With this in mind, the company recently commenced an extended HPA production run tailored to meet customer specifications through the company’s wholly owned pilot plant located in Perth, Western Australia.

FYI is undertaking a long duration market sample production run of high quality HPA to supply to potential customers following requests for follow up samples produced to meet the specifications of certain end users.

The HPA will be generated via FYI’s innovative process flowsheet, which it has optimised through development work modifications and pilot plant testwork carried out over the past 12 months.

A portion of the generated HPA will be directed to specialised finishing (to be completed by the end user) for use as a separator ceramic coating in the electric vehicle battery market.

FYI is committed to progressing the HPA project strategy through to commercial production via a defined project engineering pathway.

This pathway will be laid once FYI receives all project data from Alcoa following the termination of a joint development agreement between the two companies.

FYI will establish a revised development schedule for the completion of both the small-scale production and commercial facilities, which it anticipates being released a soon as possible.

“With FYI now back in control of our HPA development, we are undertaking these HPA pilot plant production runs in response to end user requests that demonstrates the demand for our high quality HPA,” FYI Resources Managing Director Roland Hill commented:

“We see this production run as being a critical piece in addressing potential customer product assessment needs as the results may lead to further development commitments.

“As a company, we are committed to the development of the HPA project and will continue to address potential customer product specifications as a fundamental function of our project development and project value growth.”

Meteoric Resources (ASX: MEI)

Meteoric Resources went from chocolates to more chocolates with its purchase of the Caldeira project, a Tier 1 ionic clay rare earths project located in Minas Gerais State, Brazil.

The Caldeira project came with 30 licenses (21 Mining Licenses and 9 Mining Licence Applications) and a swathe of previous exploration, including 1,311 shallow auger drill holes for 13,037 metres across six of the licenses that had returned ultra-high-grade total rare earth oxide (TREO) intersections, all of which were reported from surface.

“The distribution of the rare earth elements at Caldeira is enriched in heavy rare earth elements (HREE),” Meteoric Resources director Dr Andrew Tunks enthused at the time.

“Additionally, the sample results to date are strongly enriched in the magnet rare earths of terbium, dysprosium, praesidium and neodymium, which make up more than 22 per cent of the total rare earth elemental composition.”

Meteoric wasted little time in carrying out a review of previous metallurgical testwork that had been performed on the project’s Capo do Mel prospect in 2019.

“The average recovery of the low temperature magnet REE, praesidium and neodymium, was 58 per cent and the average recovery of the more valuable high temperature magnet REE, terbium and dysprosium, was 43 per cent,” Tunks explained.

“These results were achieved by leaching with an ammonium sulphate solution [(NH4)2SO4)] in weakly acidic conditions [pH4] and atmospheric conditions.

“The excellent recoveries in this simple process is a crucial observation and shows that for the Capo do Mel prospect, a considerable portion of the target REE are adsorbed onto the clays.

“In layman’s terms, this means the REEs are bonded onto the outside of the clay minerals (adsorbed) and can be recovered by washing the clay in a weak ammonium sulphate solution at room temperature and pressure.

“This is not the case for many rare earth element projects, where the REEs are tightly bound within the mineral lattice or are even in colloidal suspension and require a much more intensive treatment process.”

In April, Meteoric announced a $25 million raising to fund its 2023 work program at Caldeira, that will include drilling, metallurgical testwork and commencing a Preliminary Economic Assessment.

Talga Resources (ASX: TLG)

Talga Resources recently increased graphite mineral Resources at the company’s Vittangi graphite project in Sweden.

The project already boasted the largest graphite Resource in Europe, the update for which will underpin potential expansion pathways to anode production beyond 100,000 tonnes per annum, which the company had earlier outlined for the project and expansion of the Niska deposit.

The update was based on Talga’s 2022 Niska drilling campaign and increased the Vittangi Global Mineral Resource estimate by 23 per cent to 36.9 million tonnes of graphite (Cg) ore at 23.1 per cent Cg using an 11 per cent Cg cut-off grade, containing 8.5 million tonnes of Cg.

This includes Indicated Resources estimated to total 27.8 million tonnes averaging 23.8 per cent Cg and Inferred Resources estimated to total nine million tonnes averaging 21.2 per cent Cg.

The estimate included a maiden Mineral Resource for new extensions to graphite mineralisation at the Niska deposit – now named the Niska Link – the delineation of which continues to support the continuity of graphite grade between known deposits.

The total Niska Mineral Resource was increased to an estimated total of 14.9 million tonnes averaging 21.8 per cent Cg, containing 3.3 million tonnes of graphite, including Indicated Resources estimated to total 12 million tonnes averaging 22 per cent Cg and Inferred Resources estimated to total 2.9 million tonnes at 21 per cent Cg.

A new Exploration Target is anticipated across the project area that will entail drilling of deeper potential extensions of the existing Mineral Resources, as well as infill drilling.

Talga is in talks with European battery maker Automotive Cells Company SE looking to complete a binding offtake agreement for supply of Talga’s trademarked active anode material for Li-ion batteries, Talnode-C.

Talga and French battery manufacturer Verkor finalised a non-binding Letter of Intent to supply Talnode-C.

Talga has long been ahead of the graphite game and is well placed as the European lithium-ion battery market continues to grow.

Demand for coated graphite anode in Europe is tipped to reach over 1.3 million tonnes per year.

This, along with Talga’s increasing number of customers, underscores the company’s ambitions to further increase the Vittangi resource.