Australian Strategic Materials (ASM) Diggers & Dealers Mining Forum 2026 summary

Strategic Overview and Business Direction

• Building a global rare earths and critical minerals business with assets in Dubbo (NSW), a metals facility in South Korea, and a planned US metals plant, supporting clean energy and advanced technologies.

• Integrated mine-to-metals strategy includes mining, refining, and advanced manufacturing for sectors like energy, defense, electronics, and consumer markets.

• Focus on sustainable supply chains, direct shipping options, and strengthening global customer relationships, including partnerships with major industry players.

• End markets include automotive, robotics, energy, defense, and consumer sectors with high growth rates.

Recent Milestones and Operational Progress

• South Korean facility opened in 2022, producing high-quality neodymium praseodymium metals and specialist alloys for high-performance magnets, with ongoing product validation and customer expansion in Asia, Europe, and the U.S.

• KMP commenced build in 2021, with first metal sale in 2022 and ongoing expansion; US$60M invested to date, phase 2 fully funded, and 18 furnaces operational.

• Expansion of the Korean plant underway, doubling strip casting and increasing furnaces to 18, with 12 already installed and total CapEx for expansion estimated at $8 million.

• Significant customer and product growth achieved, supported by government grants and capital raises.

• Planning advanced for a U.S. metals plant with a nameplate capacity of up to 4,000 tons per annum to address growing magnet market demand.

Dubbo Project and Strategic Assets

• Dubbo Project offers a unique ore body with long-term feedstock potential for rare earths and critical minerals.

• Optimization and scoping studies reduced capital requirements from nearly AUD 2 billion to AUD 740 million, with further reductions possible by shifting to mixed hydroxide production or heap leach options.

• KMP provides rare earth metallisation and alloying, closing a critical gap in global supply chains.