Ann: Share Purchase Plan Results, page-16

Jinster

Rail connection

On the reconnecting the Tier 3 railway line, the key words to Google are “Tier 3”, “Rita Saffioti”, Narrogin”, “Kulin”, “Wickepin”. The announcement that mentioned, “The new WA Kaolin clay mine, near Wickepin, will also benefit from a potential rail freight service, as its export production ramps up in coming years.” is at https://www.wa.gov.au/government/media-statements/McGowan-Labor. On 25/05/2023.the WA Government appointed contractors to look into the rail recommissioning study – see https://www.wa.gov.au/government/me...ain-rail-lines-recommissioning-study-20230525.

Not much has been said about this since those media statements.

≥99.9% pure kaolin

Producing ≥99% purity is a doddle for WAK, because the friable silica sand host requires minimal mining effort (just open-Pit scooping) and elementary air-float separation. It is unlikely that any competitor has an easier job to achieve ≥99% purity at the mine site. WAK can produce ≥99.9% purity kaolin, it just requires more cycle time. For now, there does not seem to be a meaningful market need to produce a purity better than ≥99, and I do not think any supplier produces ≥99% purity as efficiently as WAK does.

Outsourcing some beneficiation

Where additional beneficiation occurs is a matter of business economics, which can change over time. If a beneficiation step is CAPEX heavy, like delamination is, then for now WAK is better served delegating that to a partner who has the delamination facility in place. If beneficiation requires blending with other material (e.g, ball clay, feldspar and silica), and end-users want to buy the blended product, which is becoming increasingly popular, then a geography other than Wickepin in WA, would be optimal. By International standards, wages that WAK pays are high, and so is the cost of electricity.

WAK has not said much about its partnerships in China, because they are still unfolding, and there were, and probably still are, issues to be resolved – e.g., viscoscity being too high. The current CEO is disinclined to opine on what he expects to happen – he prefers to delay Announcements until things have transpired.