TALGA RESOURCES LIMITED CHAIRMAN’S REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2014
Dear Shareholders
By all measures the 2014 Financial Year has been an exceptional one for Talga. Against the backdrop of a difficult capital market environment, 2014 saw pivotal progress for Talga as it prepares for the transition towards becoming a production Company.
There have been significant increases in both Talga’s share price and it’s market capitalisation resulting from critical operational developments and the broadening awareness of crystalline carbonproduct demand. Notwithstanding a doubling of its iron ore resource and the confirmation of a key copper-gold system, Talga’s core focus during the year remained around the advancement of its graphite projects.
The most dramatic milestone for the year was Talga’s metallurgical breakthrough at the Vittangi graphite project. In demonstrating the technique to produce high quality graphene directly from raw graphite ore, Talga has broadened its Vittangi development pathway to accommodate two products. The cost to produce graphite at Vittangi is anticipated to align with industry norms, suggesting a robust standalone graphite operation. Talga’s unique production process however will also liberate very high value graphene, essentially as a free by-product of graphite production.
Despite development work on a myriad of graphene enabled products, there is a perception that graphene applications are still in their infancy. With +€1.5 Billion in research funding available in Europe alone however, the development of graphene products is actually well advanced. The limiting factor impeding wide spread commercial graphene development is the absence of a cheap and reliable bulk production source. Talga may be able to provide this source.
Your Board and management believe graphene to be a genuinely ‘disruptive’ material and share the view that it will have profound implications to the way we live. This is supported, amongst other validations, by the coordinated worldwide research effort to maximise its commercial potential. Talga aspires to fill the current bulk graphene supply void whilst treading with an exceptionally light environmental footprint and maintaining a cost profile in the lowest quartile. The Company envisages a Vittangi mining operation akin to a stone quarry that requires no drilling and blasting and no primary crushing or grinding. This processing methodology is hoped to provide a production process that can run quietly with minimal dust, a small building envelope and has negligible road transport requirements. Courtesy of what is in the true sense of the word, a ‘unique’ ore-body, Talga is in the enviable position of having the potential to develop an environmentally benign mining operation in a world-class destination.
Recognising that worldwide graphite mineralisation is abundant and graphene liberation is limited mostly by cost and access to internal or third party metallurgical know-how, Talga does not lose sight of the need to differentiate on cost. Talga will continue to concentrate on developing a high margin project that will withstand a wide range of industry circumstances.
The future looks promising for Talga and the significant highlights and milestones of the past year are a direct result of the hard work of CEO Mark Thompson and his staff as well as the ongoing loyal support of the company’s shareholders and advisors.
Talga expects to build on the successes of 2014 and looks forward to sharing similar achievements with its shareholders in 2015 and beyond.
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