Ann: WAK Investor Presentation, page-20

lewinsky
I asked Andrew if I could meet him to ask a few questions, and I received a reply to the effect that he is in Asia visiting customers, so the matter was deferred for a later date. What was your question?

Tera
I am aware of Suvo, but I have not studied it in depth. One kaolin investment at a time is enough for me. I switched out of FYI because it was all HPA story, no substance. I asked Andrew about HPA, and he said that Management would think about high-purity alumina when its commercial viability is obvious. That made sense to me, particularly now that WAK can produce 99.9+% purity kaolin via an inexpensive dry-blow process. WAK in my opinion does not have to get into HPA, it can sell K999 to those who want a good HPA feedstock.

I Googled the topic of Suvo today, and was interested to read a 6 February 2023 Announcement that stated, ““Pittong is the only producer of hydrous kaolin in Australia.” That is not true, WAK has been producing hydrous kaolin since 2017, via a small pilot plant, and from late October 2022 via its new 0.2 MTA plant at Wickepin. That 0.2 MTA plant is four times the capacity of Suvo's .05 MTA plant, but the Suvo plant is a wet wash plant, whereas WAK's is dry blow plant, and hence not suitable for the paper&board sector market. I imagine that in late 2023 WAK would announce a second 0.2 MTA plant, and it would have a wet add-on to delaminate the kaolin to meet paper&board sector specififications.

WAK does not appear to have a problem selling product, but ramping up to capacity is a problem, and I do not know the reason for that. It may simply be a lack of funds for working capital at this early stage of its commercial-scale production, or a reluctance to pay idle staff due to turning off the new plant to make adjustments in the early months.

WAK's target is 1 MTA within a decade. I prefer WAK to slow-down the ramp-up to the pace tha can be internally funded, rather than a CR at a low share price.