More of a technical thread perhaps on existing and future capabilities of the KMP and its existing/potential products.
One of my lingering concerns with the KMP is around its ability to use the new (greener/power efficient) LK process to produce Nd/Pr. The process is apparently being used for the Ti production but not Nd/Pr. The reasons for this have not been elaborated and I wonder if ASM have found that the process proven in the lab/pilot plant does not scale to commercial level?
The image below is from the ALK days in 2020 when the LK process (then known as the Zirontech process) was being evaluated in the Korean pilot plant. This shows both Nd and Pr falling under the tag of being 'suitable and experimentally verified' as was Ti/Zr/Hf at that time.
But while KMP is now producing Ti using the LK process, not so for Nd and Pr! Why? This must be impacting OPEX and margins as the whole point of the LK process is to reduce power needs by some 50-60%. Is it related to Nd/Pr falling under the lanthanides category and this is somehow making the process fail at scale. (Full disclosure - I have zero expertise in this area - pure speculation)
The other broader related question is are ASM still exploring the ability to use the LK process across any of those other elements where it is deemed suitable? Nb as an example which is found at Dubbo?
Capabilities of the KMP
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