Hi @Patmeate. I believe this work has been ongoing, through how many of the 8 years Joe references in the second paragraph? This sentence from page 2 of today's announcement suggests a span of time has been involved and a fair bit of tweaking:
A hydrometallurgical refining process to produce catalyst quality caesium sulphate has been developed, with subsequent process steps for conversion to hydroxide or carbonate.
As an overview, without going back through announcements, I recall the caesium and rubidium in lepidolite being mentioned in our early days. As a metallurgist, Gary Johnson would have known this, so whether this was when we were PLP or LPD I'm not sure, but it was probably at the beginning of 2016. Thus, the desirability of being able to extract these by-products from micas was there from the beginning of L-Max.
Flash forward to 7 May 2019 when we merged with Desert Lion, complete with an offtake agreement with BASF, signed only one month prior. The timing was curious, as Desert Lion sent their lepidolite to China for processing/roasting which doesn't yield the by-products of caesium and rubidium. We could assume that Lepidico had been in discussions with Desert Lion for some time, to facilitate such a fundamental reorganisation of both companies.
BASF a year and a half earlier, in November 2017, "introduced" their new caesium-based sulphuric acid catalyst Quattro to the market. BASF need caesium, global supplies are dwindling, Desert Lion couldn't provide it, Lepidico can, and as @RTFQ reminded us a few months ago, Norilsk has a plant next to BASF in Germany, GJ having been MD of Norilsk Nickel Australia.
Move forward again to 21 October 2019 when LPD delivered the "High Specification Caesium-Rubidium Formate Produced" announcement, then to our 31 March 2021 quarterly when shareholders were informed under Research and Product Development:
Samples of both caesium sulphate and rubidium sulphate brines were produced during the quarter from the pilot plant in Perth, with increased caesium concentrations achieved in the former product. This work has allowed revised specifications to be developed and distributed to consumers.
@Patmeate as you and I have tossed around our ideas re sulphuric acid supply, you more than anyone would laughingly know that I believe our MOU with BASF didn't dissolve and that the news of our acid supply will come with news of offtake. @Shortlux was it you who suggested last month that being involved in new battery technology could/would lead to the need for NDAs? We know BASF were selected by Porsche/Volkswagen to develop their high performance batteries, also that they are innovative on the global stage.
Today's announcement provides the missing information from Monday's on emissions reductions. When I first saw the notification today, I thought: "@3steps Quattro!" as it was you who first alerted us to this caesium-based catalyst made by BASF. I am so grateful for your sharing this, as it provided a missing piece to the puzzle.
My three favourite parts of today's announcement:
Lepidico Ltd...an innovative developer of sustainable chemicals for twenty-first century industry
...Lepidico's drive for excellence in environmental stewardship
and the inclusion of the details of global caesium consumption with Phase 1's production of caesium metal. Our small P1 will produce 20% of the present demand, or half to three quarters of catalyst need. This means that only one Phase 2 plant can supply close to all of global demand, therefore P1 + P2 = 100% of the lower estimate. Oh, my.
Management didn't state today the production quantity of rubidium, but we've read many times that often its use is interchangeable with caesium's. The scarcity of both leads to their high price, so I wonder how Lepidico will manage this aspect of bringing relatively generous new supply to market? The USGS' Mineral Commodity Summaries acknowledged that "the use in any particular application may no longer be viable...owing to the lack of global availability of cesium." Also, on the Rubidium page:
Rubidium atoms are used in academic research, including the development of quantum-mechanics-based computing devices, a future application with potential for relatively high consumption of rubidium.
So much opportunity, basically available to no one else, remarkably. As we've been saying all week, the market still isn't getting Lepidico's potential. Yes, there is plenty of manipulation, but hey the MM let us close a pip higher today. The writing is now on the wall, with much more yet to come. Gosh, how many days can management keep this up? I'm mentally exhausted. Can we have a break tomorrow, please? Haha.
Here are links to the articles, press releases and documents alluded to above:
One last thing, @In4apenny is FEED works also largely a desktop exercise, as you explained that "infrastructure engineering" is? If so, could this sentence from today's announcement:
Lepidico is seeking binding caesium offtake terms in line with completion of the Phase 1 Project Front End Engineering and Design works, scheduled for late November 2021.
imply that when all t's are crossed pre-construction, we may receive funding for such coupled with an offtake agreement? Possibly with BASF or one of the customers receiving further samples? Perhaps Ecovyst, as @RTFQ mentioned this morning. Thank you for this. They have a great website btw, are headquartered in the US and offer a sulphuric acid recovery service. AJIMHO Cheers, all.
LPD Price at posting:
2.4¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
(20min delay)