HAS – Hastings Technology Metals

Re: HAS – Hastings Rare Metals

For those interested in Heavy Rare Earths, an run down of HAS structure and operations.

Ordinary Shares 125.26 million
Unlisted Options 15m at 40 cents
Unlisted Options 37m at 25 cents
Unlisted Options 20.6m at 15 cents
Cash at hand (12 April 2012) A$4 million approx.

Top 20 59%
Kongoni 19%
Singapore investment funds 12%
Japanese REE fund 6.4%
Board/Management 7%

Hastings Rare Metals Limited (HAS) has two Rare Earth Projects in WA, both recognised by GeoScience Australia as key REO deposits. Both deposits remain open at depth and along strike.

Hastings Project 100%
 Hastings Project (WA) is Australia’s largest Heavy Rare Earth project, and includes significant Dysprosium and Yttrium, with Niobium and Zirconium by products.
 2011 drilling defined JORC-compliant Indicated and Inferred Resources totalling:
36.2 million tonnes @ 2102ppm (0.21%) Total Rare Earth Oxides (TREO) including 85% Heavy Rare Earth Oxides
3546ppm (0.35%) Nb₂O₅
8913ppm (0.89%) ZrO₂
 Over $10m previously spent on the project
 Historical metallurgical results from pilot plant tests show recoveries of around 75% for Dysprosium and Yttrium, 80% for Niobium and Zirconium
 Metallurgical test work is ongoing on samples prepared from the 2011 drilling programme

Yangibana Project 60%
 Yangibana Project (WA) (206 sq. km under Exploration Licences) average grades of circa all 1.7%-2.0% TREO with high proportion of Neodymium (24%)

HAS leads the way in valuable REE mix with HREE (Dysprosium and Yttrium) at Hastings and LREE (Neodymium) at Yangibana. These are classified as “critical” rare earths by the US Department of Energy (December 2010)
 Dysprosium has been highlighted as being among the highest priority and most critical strategic metals now
consumed world-wide for high technology, clean energy applications and military. The December 2010 report by the US Department of Energy named dysprosium as the single most critically threatened strategic metal
to the United States. This situation has also been recognised in Europe and Asia.
 Yttrium The most important use of yttrium is in making phosphors, such as the red ones used in television and
tablet displays and in LEDs. Other uses include the production of electrodes, electrolytes, electric filters, lasers
and superconductors.
 Neodymium oxide is widely considered one of the three rare earth oxides with critical supply shortages looming in the high performance magnet industry.
Also at Hastings
 Niobium and tantalum commonly occur in the associated minerals columbite (Fe,Mn)Nb2O5 and tantalite
(Fe,Mn)Ta2O5. Main source of niobium however is pyrochlore NaCaNb2O6F. Niobium is an important alloying
element in steels and Fe-Ni-Co based superalloys. Lesser use in diverse areas such as camera lenses and
coating of glass for computer screens.
 Zirconium occurs predominantly as the silicate mineral zircon ZrO2. Used mostly in ceramics, foundry
applications, opacifiers and refractories. Main growth areas are advanced ceramics and auto-exhaust catalysts.
Significant use in nuclear energy industry in fuel rods and reactor vessel construction.
 Tantalum occurs in wide range of minerals but any tantalum-bearing concentrate is commonly termed tantalite.
Highly corrosion resistant and refractory. Used in cutting tools, mobile phones, high temperature alloys and
furnace parts to computer hard drive discs.

 Hastings project includes significant resources of Dysprosium and Yttrium while Yangibana contains
Neodymium, three of the critical rare earths (CREO).
 The Hastings project mineralisation contains 85% HREO to TREO the highest percentage of all advanced exploration projects

Hastings Project Path Forward and significant milestones
 Validation and Verification of previous metallurgy (Mid Year)
 Scoping Study to confirm economics
 Define Southern Extension Opportunity
 Optimisation of product suite (End of Year)
 Pre-feasibility study (Early 2013)
 Pilot plant (Early 2013)
 Bankable Feasibility study (End of 2013)

Advantages of Hastings Project
 Indicated JORC resource of >30 years operations at 1m tonnes per annum – potential to expand and to double outputs
 4th largest HREO Project in the world, largest in Australia
 85% Heavy Rare Earths as a percentage of TREO
 Historic pilot plant operation for the critical initial extraction circuit
 Experienced team of management, process developers and project engineers in place
 Schedule savings in Exploration and Metallurgy Development are significant compared to other potential HREO developers (4-5 years).

Going on my low cap list