The holding company for the Dubbo Project has welcomed a windfall for its joint venture (JV) partner in Korea as they work on "a breakthough technology".
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Australian Strategic Metals (ASM) reports of its Korean research and development partner Zirconium Technology Corporation (ZironTech) getting US$4.5 million in grants from the Korean government.
A statement authorised by the Alkane Resources board and released by the Australian Securities Exchange told of the grants resulting from the Korean government's US$5 billion bid to "establish clean metal supply independence and advance material technology for future market demand"
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"ZironTech has received funding for the development of a low-emission, high-purity, metal-refining technology which can be applied to zirconium, titanium and rare earths for permanent magnet alloys," the statement read.
"This development is occurring in JV with ASM who has the exclusive rights to the commercialisation of the technology worldwide.
"The technology is intended to replace conventional energy-intensive metallisation processes with a more environmentally-friendly, sustainable and cost-effective alternative."
ASM managing director David Woodall is pleased both it and the technology it is developing in partnership with ZironTech have been recognised by the Korean government as "critical in its journey to ensuring sovereign supply for critical materials".
"The technology to produce critical metals adds value to our project and is key to the growth of Korea's and Australia's new technology and manufacturing sectors, with the strong government focus on increasing domestic production to secure supply stability," he said.
The JV between ASM and ZironTech seeks to finalise the commissioning of a commercial pilot plant facility to produce high-purity metals in parallel with developing the design for the world's first commercial-scale metal plant.
"This will help meet the growing demand for a new source into domestic and global markets for ASM's range of high-purity and value-added critical metals including zirconium, rare earth magnet metals praseodymium and neodymium, niobium, and hafnium," the statement read.
The Toongi-based Dubbo Project is development- ready subject to financing.
ASM is the wholly-owned subsidiary of Alkane Resources which is seeking a demerger.
Australian government-owned Export Finance Australia has confirmed interest in helping finance the Dubbo Project.
ASM considers investment in downstream processing will "improve the economics" of the Dubbo Project and provide "involvement in the wider commercialisation of a breakthrough technology".
