Hastings Technology Metals Ltd.: Future Producer of Neodymium and Praseodymium to the Permanent Magnet Industry

Sydney - Hastings Technology Metals Ltd. (ASX:HAS) is pleased to provide the Company's latest Investor Presentation titled "Future Producer of Neodymium and Praseodymium to the Permanent Magnet Industry".

Key Facts

- Hastings' Yangibana Project in Western Australia - to produce Mixed Rare Earth Carbonate (MREC) rich in Neodymium (Nd) and Praseodymium (Pr)

- Nd and Pr are critical elements in manufacture or Permanent Magnets - used in advanced and green technologies such as wind turbines, electric vehicle (EV), CFC-free refrigeration, robotics, medical, etc.

- Completed pilot plant test-work in beneficiation and hydrometallurgy. Validates Yangibana's simple and cost effective production process

- Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) to be published by Oct 2017

- Lead Agency Project Status granted by W.A. state government to assist in permit process & final approvals

- Experienced Management Team with rare earths mining and production experience and capability

- Commercial off-take discussions underway with European and Chinese buyers

- Mine Construction in Q2 2018 and Production by 2H 2019, subject to final permitting

- AUD 30m equity raised since 2014 and debt free

- CAPEX of AUD300m required to fund mine and plant construction.

- Estimated NPV ~ AUD 420m and 2.6 years EBITDA payback from commencement date

Yangibana Advantage
High Nd & Pr content means high economic basket value

- Pilot confirmed ore upgrade from ~ 1.2% in-ground to 23% TREO in Beneficiated Concentrate - 18x times upgrade

- Exceptional high recovery & upgrades in:
o Nd & Pr
o Middle & Heavy RE

- Value for each unit of Yangibana RE concentrate is 67% to 270% > many major light RE producers in the world

- Economic Value Factor of 1.91 almost 0% double of China Producer #1

- Yangibana high basket price of USD24.25 (current) due to increase in Nd & Pr prices

Yangibana Beneficiation Flowsheet
Successful completion of pilot plant test work

Continuous Pilot Plant Test - Successfully validated simple and effective flowsheet

Confirmed 70% TREO recovery rates and a concentrate upgrade to 23% TREO ~ 18 times from ore.

- Achieved lower consumption of reagents thereby lower OPEX costs.

- Recent post-pilot Process Optimisation achieved up to 85% TREO recovery

- Engineering design work for full scale processing plant underway

- Flotation concentrate with high % Nd and Pr sent to next stage of processing i.e. hydrometallurgy

Yangibana Hydrometallurgy Flowsheet
Successful completion of pilot plant test work

Hydrometallurgy Pilot plant undertaken for three phases:

- Acid bake
- Water leaching & impurity removal
- Carbonate product precipitation

All three phases exceeded lab results and conform or exceed industry standards.

Produced 50 kg high purity MREC sample for customers containing 40.8% Nd & Pr as % of TREO

To view the full presentation, please visit:
http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/27TS48O1

About Hastings Technology Metals Ltd:

Hastings Technology Metals Ltd. (ASX:HAS) (FRA:5AM) is a leading Australian rare earths company, with two rare earths projects hosting JORC-compliant resources in Western Australia.

- The Yangibana Project hosts JORC Resources totalling 13.41 million tonnes at 1.18% TREO (comprising Measured Resources of 2.16 million tonnes at 1.01% TREO, Indicated Resources of 5.45 million tonnes at 1.30% TREO and Inferred Resources of 5.81 million tonnes at 1.12% TREO), including 0.39% Nd2O3+Pr2O3.

- The Brockman deposit contains JORC Indicated and Inferred Resources totalling 41.4 million tonnes (comprising 32.3mt Indicated Resources and 9.1mt Inferred Resources) at 0.21% TREO, including 0.18% HREO, plus 0.36% Nb2O5 and 0.90% ZrO2.

- Rare earths are critical to a wide variety of current and new technologies, including smart phones, hybrid cars, wind turbines and energy efficient light bulbs.

- The Company aims to capitalise on the strong demand for critical rare earths created by expanding new technologies.



Contact:

Hastings Technology Metals Ltd.
Charles Tan Chief Operating Officer
M: +61-457-853-839

Aris Stamoulis Director Corporate Finance
M: +61-455-105-607