global expansion worth $$ hundreds of millions

The last thing any company wants at the moment, is good news, it just provides volume for people to dump into and flee the market until things improve.
So it was unfortunate that yesterday's announcement, while not the news of a deal that we hoped for, was clearly the next best thing.
A few facts need to be taken into consideration now:
Moolap is complete and processing at full capacity, they need to work through the backlog of waste sent to them by SIMS and Alcoa, then they are into the Alcoa landfill and will be processing at 60,000 tonnes per annum for the next few years.
MHM's 60% share of that profit will be $8.6m EBIT. The full operating profit of the plant is anticipated to be $14m.

The company advises that they expect the profit targets to be met, from which it is reasonable to assume that the operating costs are on budget.

So the proof of concept plant is up and running and making money, they are processing waste, producing usable aluminium oxide and are about to dip into the landfill for the first time.

All of this represents a fantastic and under rated achievement.

The evidence that the global expansion is mightily close to being in the bag is, as holders know, the appointment of John Pugh. As Director of North American Operations

This was a transfer agreed to by both MHM and SSC, which signifies a partnership and also signifies an extremely strong faith in MHM's technology and ability to deliver.

He was at SSC for 21 years, which demonstrates a commitment to the company. I believe the odds of him moving to MHM, if the Tennessee deal wasn't a foregone conclusion and an effort to expand further into Nth America, wasn't also a foregone conclusion, are zero. Not low odds, zero!

North America, in this context, has to be assumed to mean Canada, as well as the U.S, so that means MHM now has an Australian plant making over $8m per year, out of total profits of $14m.
The Tennessee plant, is slated to be from 3 to 4 times as big, at 200k to 250k tonnes per year. At the top end of that and using the same margins as Australia, that plant will add nearly $60m in EBIT, at the lower end and on lower margins, $35m to $40m.
That is a huge growth kicker, but an even bigger one is the virtual certainty and clear message that they are about to start their push to arrange additional plants throughout North America. Any additional plants on that continent can be expected to be of similar size and profit Tennessee.

As shown by Alcoa's recent reporting, aluminium is growing in demand, which means the aluminium secondary services like recycling and waste treatment will also grow.
With the addition of just a couple of plants following from Tennessee, they will be set up to earn between $100m and $200m per year. That is without the addition of NMP value adding or SPL.

The last month or so has ticked a lot of boxes.
Moolap running at full capacity.
AL oxide produced from waste, with sale contracts in place. An industry first.
Progression with the US expansion, including a massive boost to management experience and industry knowledge and contacts in the U.S

Moolap is done, Tennessee is now I believe virtually a certainty and those two plants justify the thread heading, because over the years following the Tennessee commissioning they will bring in hundreds of millions of dollars of cash flow. The rest of the U.S expansion can't be taken as given yet, but with the new appointment the intent is obviously there and seems better than odds on.

I think it's now time for the bigger end of the market to look at what MHM has achieved and at the significance of these recent developments and come on board.

One last thing, silica news must be due soon.