http://www.stockhouse.com/opinion/independent-reports/2015/06/01/...

http://www.stockhouse.com/opinion/i...re-positioned-for-success#m3CAKLwEdymfKRd7.99

Last third is about Alkane. He gets the permit thingy wrong, but the rest is a must read imO. Especially re hafnium ...

"The simple truth is that the DZP is a difficult but arguably the most promising, and certainly the most interesting, specialty metal project on the planet. The DZP's unique trachyte volcanic intrusive ore body hosts zirconium, niobium, light and heavy rare earth elements plus yttrium in a remarkably homogenous form that is readily soluble in sulfuric acid for processing. It is a monster deposit with an 80-year mine life and a megaproject price tag of $1 billion. That makes the name something of a misnomer: zirconium and zirconia products constitute about two-thirds of Alkane's product line by volume but only approximately 33% of its projected profit stream.
...
What has captured our attention recently, however, is that this constant optimization of the flow sheet for the demonstration plant at ANSTO has resulted in the addition of hafnium oxide to Alkane's product line—the significance of which is clearly not yet grasped by the market.
  
TGR: What's so important about hafnium?
  
RK: Hafnium is a peculiar metal, even by specialty metal standards. Because of its near identical chemical composition to zirconium, hafnium is widely considered to be the most difficult of all metals to separate and recover economically.
  
Historically it has been used in nuclear reactor control rods and rocket nozzles, but today well over half of all hafnium is consumed by the aerospace industry in super alloys for turbine blades (rotating parts) and vanes (stators).
  
ATI Inc. (ATI:NYSE) and AREVA SA (AREVA:EPA) are currently the largest producers of hafnium metal, which they recover as a byproduct of zirconium refining for the nuclear industry, and together account for well over two-thirds of global production of 50–60 tpa.
  
With demand for hafnium metal being in the 70–80 tpa range, however, the price has escalated and remained in the vicinity of $1,200/kilogram despite the aforementioned downturn in overall commodity prices. Both Airbus and Boeing are predicting strong continued growth in the commercial aviation industry (e.g., Boeing claims 35,280 new planes will be built by 2032), so we expect strong hafnium demand well into the future. [bold by mtm- comment: don't you think they might be motivated to get the necessary materials locked down right now?]
   
I won't pretend to tell you how they do it, but the fact that Alkane has a process that can now recover a high-purity hafnium oxide product will make Alkane the world's first primary mine supplier of hafnium.
  
And that is a big deal ... "  (more)