Longtime niobium darling WA1 Resources (ASX:WA1) has jumped into the green on Monday after producing niobium oxide from its Western Australian-based Luni project.
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The move is, in some ways, a vindication moment for the company. WA1 was an early mover on niobium after that metal was subject to trade curbs – kind of like the antimony before antimony – and greatly assisting it was the fact that it found one of the largest known niobium deposits outside of Brazil.
The production of niobium oxide, now, is a kind of evidence of Australia’s capacity – or WA1’s – to produce niobium powders domestically. Niobium oxide was produced at 96.8% purity, and according to the company, feed concentrate wasn’t subject to prior refining.
What that means, in essence, is a lower cost profile for production.
“A total of 0.5kg of niobium concentrate from a bulk beneficiation program was used as the sample input for this testwork,” the company wrote.
It continued: “This testwork consisted of the concentrate sample being leached and subjected to solvent extraction to produce a niobium-rich liquor. The stripped liquor was then precipitated to produce a hydrated oxide, which was filtered, dried and calcined to form niobium oxide.”
That’s neither here nor there – but it’s good news for the company’s share price, which jumped out the gate on Monday.
Of course, WA1’s post-explorer valuation has well and truly already been priced in; in fact, on Monday, one-year returns in the company are up less than +4%.
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