An "aspect "of this ( and on the same topic of course ) , is...

An "aspect "of this ( and on the same topic of course ) , is that as best I know or can gather , the KMP Clean Technology Pilot Plant , was largely "trialled"from product coming from Toongi but then had gone thru the Ansto "separation process "that ALK had set up/established with Ansto over multiple years . So ....the Nd/Pd oxide would have come as a genuinely clean product , free from almost all ( if anything , minute ) deleterious contaminents .
Now --how that works within , or what difference it makes to the patented KMP technology , I don't know --but its just worth mentioning that raw material coming from Vietnam , albeit probabaly quite "clean "( otherwise ASM woouldn't be contracting to acquire some , and maybe some more ) , it will have differences from Toongi .
From discussions with ALK over the years ( and as further pointed out by Jack Lifton in a recent article on Investorintel , and posted here ) , obtaining a premium metallic product from Nd/Pd oxides , and the same with the other high value industrial metals , requires a very specific process and a very clean material .
Basically --if you have "garbage in ", you will get garbage out and an inferior metallic magnet product that won't attract premium buyers . Might be useful for short life products for China ..but that's exactly the market that ASM is not targetting !
Maybe this is what ASM are wrestling with in fine tuning , and also one of the reasons why Rowena re-opened processing discussions and re-examination with ANSTO , which , as best I know are on-going .
Guess work completely ...and just another throw at the stumps .
I am sure , within the mix of issues that have been raised over the last few days , there are some elements of fact .
In some ways , it is far better that ASM has taken the "quiet road "since the departure of the former MD , and Rowena and staff are working dilligently to knock out these rough parts of the process . As we all know , the market took the ASM share price behind the woodshed , and gave it a severe hiding ( or at least the Shorts did ) long before the any range of processing hiccups were perceived , including the lack of raw material .
Far better it now becomes a case of underpromise and overdeliver ...and I hope that this coming Quarterly adds more detail as to progress , the problem details and how that remedies are now showing results , even if they are still being modified .
AIMHO