This was a pleasant surprise to receive this morning.As we hoped...

This was a pleasant surprise to receive this morning.

As we hoped we got a Japanese partner, but even more impressive is that we have landed Sumitomo! It is really interesting and encouraging to see that JOGMEC will be involved also. This is the Japanese government's hand in making sure this JV will be a success and will likely be a source of funding for the JV.

A few points:

- The Dec 31 deadline shows commitment and urgency on both sides.

- The timeline is INCREDIBLY fast, especially for a Japanese company. This highlights the demand for Fluorite and importance of Speewah

- JOGMEC being cited could have only happed with Sumitomo's permission. JOGMEC is Japanese government who have a mission to secure supply of critical minerals. I've only ever heard of them supporting one other Australian company before being Lynas. This is a once in a decade occurrence.

- I think it is safe to say that Sumitomo have exclusivity on this because they have full offtake agreement.

- Also safe to say that Sumitomo will have had full access to the project data room to make this deal. They certainly would not have signed unless they were certain of the viability.

It's a great day for the company!