Australian rare earths producer Australian Strategic Materials (ASM) has sold its first batch of dysprosium (Dy) and terbium (Tb) metal to Canadian magnet maker Neo Performance Materials, and has signed a deal for future sales.
ASM sold 2kg of Dy metal and 2kg of Tb metal to Neo from its South Korean metallisation plant, the company said on 15 July. It also sold 10t of neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) metal to Neo — the latest in a string of NdPr metal sales to the Canadian producer, totalling 29t.
ASM plans to maintain its sales relationship with Neo. The two companies have signed an initial non-binding agreement to work on future sales deals, ASM said on 15 July. ASM's initial agreement with Neo will run for 12 months, the company added.
ASM will supply light and heavy rare earth metals to Neo's magnet plants, while the Canadian producer will support the Australian manufacturer's alloy production through gallium sales.
The two companies will also partner on a tolling agreement for NdPr, Dy and Tb products produced in South Korea.
ASM currently produces Dy, Tb, and NdPr metal at its South Korean plant, as well as neodymium iron boron alloys. It plans to eventually produce titanium, zirconium, hafnium, and niobium products at site using feedstock from its developing Dubbo project in Australia.
ASM is progressing the Dubbo project alongside its metallisation business. The company published an updated Dubbo scoping study based on an alternative production process on 11 July. ASM's updated study cut Dubbo's forecast development cost by A$900mn ($589mn), from A$1.7bn to A$740mn.
