Ann: Investor Presentation Update January 2018, page-4

An independent article about HAS published on Switzer last week by James Dunn ​

Financial journalist and commentator on 3AW and Sky Business

Hastings Technology Metals Limited (HAS, 28 cents)​

Market capitalisation: $199 million
Hastings is developing its Yangibana rare earths mine and processing plant in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. The processing plant is expected to commence production of mixed rare earth carbonate (MREC) in late 2019. Hastings has completed both beneficiation and hydrometallurgy pilot plants, in the process producing MREC samples that were high in NdPr content.
Hastings’ MREC will be capable of being further separated and refined to produce a number of individual rare earth oxides outside of Australia. Hastings estimates an annual production quantity of 15,000 tonnes of MREC. The company has had good success signing off-take agreements for this production: in August 2017, it signed an off-take memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Chinese company Baotou Sky Rock to sell 2,500 tonnes of MREC a year from Yangibana. It followed this agreement the next month with agreements with two other Chinese companies, China Rare Earth Holdings and Qiangdong Rare Earth Group, to take 2,000 tonnes and 1,500 tonnes of MREC a year respectively. Then, in February, German steel multi-national ThyssenKrupp signed a deal to take 5,000 tonnes of MREC a year. All of these agreements are conditional on Hastings actually starting operations and production – but they’re very nice to have in place.​

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