The term “Holy Moley” is seldom, if ever, used by us but our powers of speech are severely hampered by trying to digest the implications of the latest deal in the rare earths space. Neo Performance Materials Inc. (TSX: NEO) has now succeeded in flooring us twice in two weeks.

First, there was its announcement that it was acquiring a rare earths elements (REE) mining project in Greenland and making all the right noises as if it was going to move that forward (and if anyone can, it would be them). And then we have the shock announcement that Hastings Technology Metals Ltd (ASX: HAS), the sometime REE developer in Australia, is to acquire a 22.1% strategic shareholding in Neo Performance Materials. We need not remind investors that Neo is not only a leading global rare earths processing and advanced permanent magnets producer, but it is THE leading global rare earths processing and advanced permanent magnets producer outside China, with a string of plants around the world and most particularly its Silmet plant in Estonia, which is a cornerstone of the monazite sands processing strategy of Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE: UUUU | TSX: EFR).

The market cap of Neo, on the eve of this announcement, was CAD$605 million. The acquisition has been agreed at a price of CAD$15.00 per Neo share, representing a total consideration of CAD$135 million. Bargain basement, indeed, in our view.

According to the release, the acquisition is intended to be funded by an AUD$150 million strategic investment in Hastings by Wyloo Metals through the issuance of secured, redeemable, exchangeable notes.

Interestingly, the stake is not a de novo investment by Hastings but rather the purchase of a stake from an affiliate of Oaktree Capital Management. Those with long memories will recall that this stake dates back to the ancient history of when Molycorp went spectacularly bust just under ten years ago and Neo was reconstituted bigger and better out of the ruins. The stake being vended by Oaktree consists of 8,974,127 common shares in Neo, representing a 22.1% shareholding.

The proposed acquisition provides Hastings (and Wyloo) with a strategic stake in Neo and exposure to the global downstream processing of rare earth materials into magnets.

We have written about Hastings’ Yangibana deposit so long ago that we must fight through a veil of cobwebs to find what we wrote. The company claims that the project remains the key priority for Hastings, “with good progress being made on funding initiatives and other key milestones.” But they would say that, wouldn’t they?!

The acquisition of the Neo stake, and in particular the Wyloo investment, are subject to shareholder approval (50% voting threshold). All this begs the question as to whether Canada (or indirectly the US) will allow the crown-jewel (indeed the Queen on the REE chessboard) to pass into the hands of Wyloo Metals.

In this InvestorIntel PDAC 2022 Panel on “Rare Earths, Sustainability & Meeting the EV Market Demand”, host Tracy Weslosky is joined by Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE American: UUUU | TSX: EFR) President and CEO Mark Chalmers and Neo Performance Materials Inc. (TSX: NEO) President, CEO and Director Constantine Karayannopoulos, to talk about their unique business relationship and the challenges and opportunities of getting rare earths magnets to market.

In the interview, which can also be viewed in full on the InvestorIntel YouTube channel (click here), Mark talks about the unique relationship between Energy Fuels and Neo Performance Materials to integrate the rare earths process and meet the increasing world demand for providers of EV materials from outside of China. Constantine describes the moment when he and Mark “realized that between the two of us we had all the pieces of the puzzle and that we could put together a very full supply chain.”

Constantine goes on to discuss how Neo Performance Materials works with Energy Fuels in Utah, which “takes out the uranium for the uranium business for his customers and recovers the rare earths in a way that works for us,” separating the rare earth elements, turning them into metals alloys and finally the magnets needed by the EV industry.

Mark says that the relationship between the two companies work not only because they each have something that the other needs, but because “we are doers, not promoters. We’re trying to accomplish big things by actually doing it on the ground.” With increasing demand from European EV automakers, Mark goes on to say “we’re looking at being a world significant integrated supplier of rare earth products from the beginning to the end.”

To access the full InvestorIntel interview, click here

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About Energy Fuels Inc.:

Energy Fuels is a leading U.S.-based uranium mining company, supplying U₃O₈ to major nuclear utilities. Energy Fuels also produces vanadium from certain of its projects, as market conditions warrant, and is ramping up commercial-scale production of rare earth element (“REE“) carbonate. Its corporate offices are in Lakewood, Colorado, near Denver, and all its assets and employees are in the United States. Energy Fuels holds three of America’s key uranium production centers: the White Mesa Mill in Utah, the Nichols Ranch in-situ recovery (“ISR“) Project in Wyoming, and the Alta Mesa ISR Project in Texas. The White Mesa Mill is the only conventional uranium mill operating in the U.S. today, has a licensed capacity of over 8 million pounds of U₃O₈ per year, and has the ability to recycle alternate feed materials from third parties, to produce vanadium when market conditions warrant, and to produce REE carbonate from various uranium-bearing ores. Energy Fuels is also evaluating the potential to recover medical isotopes for use in targeted alpha therapy cancer treatments. The Nichols Ranch ISR Project is on standby and has a licensed capacity of 2 million pounds of U₃O₈ per year. The Alta Mesa ISR Project is also on standby and has a licensed capacity of 1.5 million pounds of U₃O₈ per year. In addition to the above production facilities, Energy Fuels also has one of the largest SK-1300/NI 43-101 compliant uranium resource portfolios in the U.S. and several uranium and uranium/vanadium mining projects on standby and in various stages of permitting and development.

To learn more about Energy Fuels Inc., click here

About Neo Performance Materials Inc.

Neo manufactures the building blocks of many modern technologies that enhance efficiency and sustainability. Neo’s advanced industrial materials – magnetic powders and magnets, specialty chemicals, metals, and alloys – are critical to the performance of many everyday products and emerging technologies. Neo’s products help to deliver the technologies of tomorrow to consumers today. The business of Neo is organized along three segments: Magnequench, Chemicals & Oxides and Rare Metals. Neo is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; with corporate offices in Greenwood Village, Colorado, US; Singapore; and Beijing, China. Neo operates globally with sales, research and development, and production facilities and offices across 10 countries: Japan, China, Thailand, Estonia, Singapore, Germany, United Kingdom, Canada, United States, and South Korea.

To learn more about Neo Performance Materials Inc., click here

Disclaimer: Energy Fuels Inc. and Neo Performance Materials Inc. are advertorial members of InvestorIntel Corp.

This interview, which was produced by InvestorIntel Corp., (IIC), does not contain, nor does it purport to contain, a summary of all the material information concerning the “Company” being interviewed. IIC offers no representations or warranties that any of the information contained in this interview is accurate or complete.

This presentation may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and assumptions of the management of the Company as of the date made. They are inherently susceptible to uncertainty and other factors that could cause actual events/results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements. Additional risks and uncertainties, including those that the Company does not know about now or that it currently deems immaterial, may also adversely affect the Company’s business or any investment therein.

Any projections given are principally intended for use as objectives and are not intended, and should not be taken, as assurances that the projected results will be obtained by the Company. The assumptions used may not prove to be accurate and a potential decline in the Company’s financial condition or results of operations may negatively impact the value of its securities. Prospective investors are urged to review the Company’s profile on Sedar.com and to carry out independent investigations in order to determine their interest in investing in the Company.

If you have any questions surrounding the content of this interview, please contact us at +1 416 792 8228 and/or email us direct at [email protected].

I’m going to make a bold prediction. The electric vehicles we see on the road today will be virtually obsolete in 5 years. The amount of capital and brain power being applied to battery technology coupled with the desire/need for fewer and lower carbon footprint resources that go into those batteries is going to result in material step changes in vehicle range, speed of charging and hopefully the corresponding cost. Whether the electrical grid can keep up with this rapid transition to EVs remains to be seen but we can save that discussion for another day.

Imagine you want to go on a road trip in your EV, but every 300-400 miles you have to spend a few hours charging. What if the next generation of EVs could add 50+% to that range and fully re-charge in 15-30 minutes. How much would you be willing to pay for the old generation of EV versus the convenience of a new one? For sure there will still be a market for used EVs as some people only need it for their daily commute or trips to the grocery store and otherwise the vehicle sits idle for hours, at which point in time there is little to no inconvenience to charge it. But for me, as someone who likes to fish and hike in the great outdoors of the Rocky Mountains, I can assure you there is no chance I’m buying a current generation EV with its theoretical range that potentially leaves me stranded in the middle of nowhere when the actual range ends up being 25% lower than optimal operating conditions.

One company leading the charge into the next generation of batteries is NEO Battery Materials Ltd. (TSXV: NBM | OTCQB: NBMFF), a Vancouver-based company focused on lithium-ion battery materials for electric vehicle and energy storage applications. NEO has a focus on producing silicon anode materials through its proprietary single-step nanocoating process, which provides improvements in capacity and efficiency over lithium-ion batteries using graphite in their anode materials. The Company intends to become a silicon anode active materials supplier to the electric vehicle industry with their all-star management and technical advisory team cherry picked from LG Chem, Samsung and various renowned universities.

The numbers are impressive both from a capacity/capability perspective and relative cost to their competition. In mid-2021 the Company announced that in a half-cell coin test that its nanocoated silicon anode allowed for a safe full charge within 5 minutes, which demonstrates the potential for scaling and implementation in larger cells such as those used in high power EV batteries. Through a mix of treatments and nanocoating materials, NEO utilizes pure metallurgical-grade silicon (Si) particles, which provide a 40-70% higher initial capacity compared to current competitors that employ SiOx, SiC, or other composite silicon materials. Due to NEO’s advantage of retaining a higher initial capacity, on average, a 5% silicon weight loading of NBMSiDE™ can have the equivalent impact of a 10% loading of a competitor’s materials. Initial coulombic efficiencies (ICE) – the ratio of the discharge capacity after the full charge and the charging capacity of the same cycle and is usually a fraction of less than 1 – for NEO’s 100% micron-size level Si anode have exceeded the 86% level, and cycling performance presents excellent capacity retention after 300 charging/discharging cycles.

And all this technology is advancing beyond research lab theoretical work. The latest press release from the Company confirms an MOU with the Province of Gyeonggi (basically Seoul, South Korea, and the surrounding area) to establish grounds for investments and cooperation between NEO and the Province to advance the mass production of silicon anode materials for EV batteries. NEO Battery Materials will initially invest, over the next 5 years, 24 billion KRW or approximately C$25 million to support the construction and expansion of the silicon anode commercial plant located on a 107,000 sq. ft. site in Oseong Foreign Investment Complex, Pyeongtaek City, Gyeonggi-do. The Company aims to transform the Province into an essential manufacturing and R&D hub of silicon anode materials. The first phase of the commercial plant will possess an initial annual production capacity of 240 tons of NBMSiDE, and the facility will be built as a 4-story office building with additional space that can accommodate production expansion to 1,800 tons annually of the Company’s anode material.

I have no idea if NEO Battery Materials will be one of the success stories to advance the next generation of battery technology for EVs and energy storage. I do know that they have generated some interesting results and have NDAs signed with over 20 globally established industry players in the battery cell manufacturing, materials manufacturing, and automotive industries. With a market cap of roughly C$30 million, you can decide if this is one of the companies you’d like to hold if you are investing in the future of EVs.

Neo Performance Materials Inc. (TSX: NEO) (Neo) is an almost totally integrated Western (Canadian) company that processes mixed rare earth concentrates to produce separated individual and specifically blended rare earths to produce rare earth metals, alloys, and “bonded” rare earth permanent magnets. What makes Neo special is that they are the only company in the world that operates dual supply chains inside and outside of China for REE separation and REE advanced materials and end-use products. Neo owns the only operating commercial rare earth separation facility outside of Asia. It’s in Europe (Estonia facility) and it has sales and production centers spread across 10 countries globally.

All of the above makes Neo unique as a Western producer of rare earth materials as well as end-use products, which are critical in the green energy and EV revolution.

Award winning facilities

As announced on February 22 and March 28, 2022, Neo won awards for two of its key factories, the first in Thailand and the second in Estonia. The awards were Gold Medals awarded by EcoVadis for 2021 sustainability performance.

The second announcement stated: “This places Neo’s Silmet facility in Sillamäe, Estonia in the top five percent of all facilities around the world reporting to EcoVadis for its sustainability programs in 2022… The Silmet facility processes mixed rare earth feedstock into a variety of high-purity rare earth specialty materials, including neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) oxide, which is used by Neo’s Magnequench business unit to produce neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnetic materials and magnets for automotive, factory automation, home appliance, circulation pump, and other applications.”

This impressive recognition is also very well timed given the surging demand for NdFeB magnets used in many EV motors. Global electric car sales finished March 2022 with 851,000 sales for the month (the second best month ever), 60% higher YoY, with market share of 15%.

The global OEM automotive industry today uses mainly sintered NdFeB rare earth permanent magnets, but the use of bonded type NdFeB in this application is growing rapidly. Neo has pioneered the use of bonded NdFeB magnets in automotive applications with Japanese customer/partner, Honda, and this use is expanding. Neo has agreed with European magnet customers to expand its capacity there and to add sintered NdFeB magnets to its product lines. The EU has encouraged and is financially supportive of this move by Neo.

Prices for rare earths materials and end-user products used in the green economy have been surging the past year, due to demand exceeding supply, and this is reflected in Neo’s latest financial results. This supply deficit looks to be baked in for at least the next decade due to the growth of the green economy.

Q4 2021 and Full-Year financial results highlights (in USD)

As reported on March 10, 2022, Neo achieved the following outstanding financial results:

• “Q4 2021 revenue of $153.4 million higher by 39.0% YoY; full-year 2021 revenue of $539.3 million was higher by 55.5% YoY.
• Volumes in the fourth quarter of 3,311 tonnes; full-year volumes expanded by 20.2%.
• Operating income of $12.7 million in the quarter; $59.9 million for the year.
• Adjusted Net Income for the quarter of $16.1 million, or $0.39 per share, with full-year Adjusted Net Income of $55.0 million, or $1.42 per share.
• Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter of $19.7 million; 2021 Adjusted EBITDA of $81.9 million was 183.7% higher YoY.
• Cash balance of $89.0 million after raising $38.0 million from equity offering and distributing $12.8 million in dividends to shareholders.”

As shown above, full-year 2021 revenue was 55.5% higher YoY, based on volume growth of 20.2%. Clearly higher-end product prices helped support the stellar results. Neo sums it up well and the general direction the business is heading by stating:

“Neo reported strong year-over-year (YoY) gains in revenue, volumes, operating income, Adjusted EBITDA, and profitability in the year ended December 31, 2021, driven largely by increased demand for products across all three of its operating divisions, higher selling prices for rare earth materials, and continuing progress in several of the Company’s strategic initiatives.”

I did warn investors that this was what we were expecting from Neo with our December 22, 2021 article: “Neo Performance Materials looks to expand capacity as it rides the tailwind of growing rare earth permanent magnet demand.”

Neo Performance Materials is one of a few Western companies able to process rare earths and make magnets

Source: Neo Performance Materials website

Closing remarks

Neo Performance Materials occupies a rare and critical position in the Western supply chain to produce rare earths specialty products. Demand for powerful rare earth type magnets used in many consumer goods as well as in wind turbines and EVs is expected to surge this decade.

Neo Performance Materials trades on a market cap of C$546 million and a current PE of 17.6. 2022 PE is forecast at 7.82.

The next catalyst for Neo will be the Q1, 2022 earning results due out before the market opens on May 13, 2022. Stay tuned.

NEO Battery Materials Ltd. (TSXV: NBM | OTCQB: NBMFF) (“NEO”) is advancing at full speed with their recent announcement that they have “completed a contract for the Commercial Plant’s construction, design, and permits with an architectural firm”. The plant will be located in Gyeonggi Province’s Oseong International Investment Zone in South Korea, near major battery manufacturers LG Energy Solution and Samsung SDI.

As a brief reminder for new investors, NEO has developed high-performance silicon anode materials to replace parts of the graphite used by anode and battery manufacturers in their battery anodes. Their leading product is NBMSiDE™, a silicon anode material for EV lithium-ion batteries. NBMSiDE™ is manufactured through the Company’s proprietary nanocoating technology, achieving a high specific capacity of >2,500 mAh/g. This essentially means the NEO silicon anode material helps improve the all-important battery energy holding capacity and ultimately the charging speed of the EV.

As NEO states: “Through a mix of treatments and nanocoating materials, NEO utilizes pure metallurgical-grade silicon particles, which provide a 40-70% higher initial specific energy or capacity compared to current competitors that employ SiOx, SiC, or other composite silicon materials.”

South Korea anode plant design progressing with an increased production target

Regarding the new anode materials plant, the final site approval has now been granted. Due to the land site being in a Foreign Investment Zone, NEO will receive a range of benefits including a 99% reduced lease rate and tax incentives. NEO may also access Provincial financial support for equipment purchases, employment subsidies, and education/training subsidies.

Additionally, NEO recently stated that the “Company will now advance to the detailed process design for the production lines and will proceed with early orders of components that have long lead times for the commercial plant. Through a structured execution plan of performing procurement and construction processes one after another, NEO expects to achieve the initial commission of the Commercial Plant by the first half of next year… We are currently working on pursuing strategic investments and communicating with the respective companies and investors to finance the construction of the commercial plant.”

In another very interesting development from NEO, the Company has increased their anode material production targets again. The original pilot plant capacity was 10 tons, which last year was increased 12 fold to a commercial scale of 120 tons pa. This was recently increased to 240 tons pa. Even more impressive is the longer term target of the full facility capacity after installing the maximum number of mass-production lines through expansion, of 2,000 tons of NBMSiDE™ anode material pa.

NEO has also been busy sending NBMSiDE™ product samples to several potential off-take companies for testing. If this stage goes well then usually off-take agreements follow, which then typically helps the project financing process.

“The first refined sample of NBMSiDE™ has been provided to a Europe-based battery materials company,” NEO recently stated,  “and a second delivery is planned in April. NEO is additionally conducting sample tests with several Asia-based and European battery manufacturers.”

NEO has also recently internally developed NBMSiDE™ pouch-type full cells which have been manufactured to evaluate product performance, viability, and durability in genuine battery charging conditions.

In an April 5, 2022 news release NEO stated that: “NEO Battery Materials will commence construction in June 2022 and will follow stringent timelines and protocols to aim completion in June 2023.” I would assume this is subject to project financing.

Closing remarks

NEO is making great progress with their silicon-anode material commercialization plans, with the excellent advantage of locating their manufacturing facility in the Oseong International Investment Zone in South Korea.

Investors should understand that the next stages of product evaluation and testing, off-take deals, financing, and project construction all carry risks and the possibility of delay. Nonetheless, NEO is certainly making all the right moves and looks to be very well connected to the major Korean battery manufacturers.

NEO Battery Materials trades on a market cap of C$52 million.

In a recent InvestorIntel interview with Tracy Weslosky, Neo Performance Materials Inc.’s (TSX: NEO) President, CEO and Director Constantine Karayannopoulos detailed Neo Performance’s dramatic rise in revenues and profits in 2021, the highest profits in the consistently profitable company’s history.  He then outlined his plans for Neo to maintain and continue an upward revenue and profits trajectory.  Constantine also said that Neo’s gold medal winning ESG audit for its (European) Estonian operations would be a goal for all of its worldwide operations.

The discussion also covered the variety of Neo’s products and their uses and markets not only in rare earths but also in other critical technology metals, including gallium, niobium, and tantalum for the electronics and specialty alloys industries.

Constantine pointed out that Neo Performance Materials is the most vertically integrated rare earths products manufacturer in the world outside of China, and one of only two niobium and tantalum processors in Europe. It is the only commercial separator of rare earths in Europe. All of its products are in high demand by the OEM automotive industry and the OEM semiconductor industry. Neo, he also said, is the leading manufacturer of bonded-type rare earth permanent magnets in the world, and their use in the OEM automotive industry is rapidly expanding.

To watch the full interview, click here

About Neo Performance Materials Inc.

Neo manufactures the building blocks of many modern technologies that enhance efficiency and sustainability. Neo’s advanced industrial materials – magnetic powders and magnets, specialty chemicals, metals, and alloys – are critical to the performance of many everyday products and emerging technologies. Neo’s products help to deliver the technologies of tomorrow to consumers today. The business of Neo is organized along three segments: Magnequench, Chemicals & Oxides and Rare Metals. Neo is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; with corporate offices in Greenwood Village, Colorado, US; Singapore; and Beijing, China. Neo operates globally with sales, research and development, and production across 10 countries, being Japan, China, Thailand, Estonia, Singapore, Germany, United Kingdom, Canada, United States, and South Korea.

To learn more about Neo Performance Materials Inc., click here

Disclaimer: Neo Performance Materials Inc. is an advertorial member of InvestorIntel Corp.

This interview, which was produced by InvestorIntel Corp., (IIC), does not contain, nor does it purport to contain, a summary of all the material information concerning the “Company” being interviewed. IIC offers no representations or warranties that any of the information contained in this interview is accurate or complete.

This presentation may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and assumptions of the management of the Company as of the date made. They are inherently susceptible to uncertainty and other factors that could cause actual events/results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements. Additional risks and uncertainties, including those that the Company does not know about now or that it currently deems immaterial, may also adversely affect the Company’s business or any investment therein.

Any projections given are principally intended for use as objectives and are not intended, and should not be taken, as assurances that the projected results will be obtained by the Company. The assumptions used may not prove to be accurate and a potential decline in the Company’s financial condition or results of operations may negatively impact the value of its securities. Prospective investors are urged to review the Company’s profile on Sedar.com and to carry out independent investigations in order to determine their interest in investing in the Company.

If you have any questions surrounding the content of this interview, please contact us at +1 416 792 8228 and/or email us direct at [email protected].

In this episode of Critical Minerals Corner, Jack Lifton and Critical Minerals Corner Co-Host & InvestorIntel Columnist Byron W. King are joined by Constantine Karayannopoulos, President, CEO and Director of Neo Performance Materials Inc. (TSX: NEO). Constantine describes the real state of the rare earth mining, refining, and end-use product industry, outside of China, as it exists and operates today, from the perspective of the largest non-Chinese owned vertically integrated, beyond the mine, rare earth products producer in the world. Questions from Jack and Byron lead Constantine to describe and differentiate today’s European and North American markets with regard to their sizes, existing supplies and suppliers, and their futures as he sees them.

Although Neo Performance Materials is a Canadian company, headquartered in Toronto, it produces and sells rare earth product lines within China, Europe, SE Asia, and North America. Jack points out that this makes Constantine Karayannopoulos a uniquely qualified expert to analyze the global rare earths’ products’ markets. And surmises that those watching may learn a great deal in this conversation about the synergies between rare earths’ supply and the real-world markets.

To access the complete episode of this Critical Minerals Corner discussion, click here

About Neo Performance Materials Inc.

Neo manufactures the building blocks of many modern technologies that enhance efficiency and sustainability. Neo’s advanced industrial materials – magnetic powders and magnets, specialty chemicals, metals, and alloys – are critical to the performance of many everyday products and emerging technologies. Neo’s products help to deliver the technologies of tomorrow to consumers today. The business of Neo is organized along three segments: Magnequench, Chemicals & Oxides and Rare Metals. Neo is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; with corporate offices in Greenwood Village, Colorado, US; Singapore; and Beijing, China. Neo operates globally with sales, research and development, and production across 10 countries, being Japan, China, Thailand, Estonia, Singapore, Germany, United Kingdom, Canada, United States, and South Korea.

To learn more about Neo Performance Materials Inc., click here

Disclaimer: Neo Performance Materials Inc. is an advertorial member of InvestorIntel Corp.

This interview, which was produced by InvestorIntel Corp., (IIC), does not contain, nor does it purport to contain, a summary of all the material information concerning the “Company” being interviewed. IIC offers no representations or warranties that any of the information contained in this interview is accurate or complete.

This presentation may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and assumptions of the management of the Company as of the date made. They are inherently susceptible to uncertainty and other factors that could cause actual events/results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements. Additional risks and uncertainties, including those that the Company does not know about now or that it currently deems immaterial, may also adversely affect the Company’s business or any investment therein.

Any projections given are principally intended for use as objectives and are not intended, and should not be taken, as assurances that the projected results will be obtained by the Company. The assumptions used may not prove to be accurate and a potential decline in the Company’s financial condition or results of operations may negatively impact the value of its securities. Prospective investors are urged to review the Company’s profile on Sedar.com and to carry out independent investigations in order to determine their interest in investing in the Company.

If you have any questions surrounding the content of this interview, please contact us at +1 416 792 8228 and/or email us direct at [email protected].

Apparently, my “watchlist” is far too large these days. When I circle around to have a look at some of the names on the list, I’m often shocked by the progress they’ve made since the last time I looked at them. Fortunately, in some cases, I can potentially still purchase the stock at a price comparable to the last time I reviewed it, despite its success in the interim. Today is a great example of this. It’s a stock that I last wrote about in June 2021. Since that time the Company has continued to grow its revenue and be profitable, increased the cash on its balance sheet, pays a quarterly dividend and yesterday closed 6.5% lower than it was trading at the beginning of last June.

That company is Neo Performance Materials Inc. (TSX: NEO), which is currently trading at 17x trailing 12-month earnings, has a 2.5% dividend yield and over $2/share of cash sitting on the balance sheet. These may not seem like outstanding metrics for an industrial stock as compared to its peers but Neo Performance is not like its industrial peers. They are sitting squarely in the driver’s seat of the green revolution. Neo manufactures the building blocks of many modern technologies that enhance efficiency and sustainability. The Company’s advanced industrial materials – magnetic powders and magnets, specialty chemicals, metals, and alloys – are critical to the performance of many everyday products and emerging technologies. Neo’s products are used in numerous end-use applications including micro motors, traction motors, auto catalysts, water pollution controls, healthcare (such as medical imaging), aerospace, clean energy technologies (such as HEVs and EVs), consumer electronics (such as smartphones and tablets), fiber optics, HDDs and a number of other applications.

Not only is Neo involved in the manufacturing of materials integral to a sustainable future, but there’s also the old real estate adage – location, location, location. The Company’s Estonian facility is the only commercial producer of rare earths in Europe and one of only two producers of aerospace-grade tantalum and niobium in the EU. A key business focus is to meet the rapidly growing demand for magnetic rare earths in Europe, which are needed by electric vehicles and high-efficiency electric motors. Neo is partnering with industry and government leaders across Europe with an aim toward helping establish production in Europe of sintered neo magnets to help meet demand using rare earth feedstock from North America and elsewhere outside of China. If you are like me and that last sentence is a little over your head, I encourage you to go to the Company’s website and click on all the “Learn More” boxes. It’s pretty fascinating stuff, even if I still didn’t understand a lot of it.

As bullish as this sounds, coupled with a track record of success and growth over the last couple of years, I can see a couple of things that may account for the uninspired performance of the stock price of late. The first is that 37% of corporate revenue in 2021 came from Chinese customers. With China’s zero tolerance COVID policy and lockdown after lockdown making the news headlines, investors may wonder if Q1/22 financials might be impacted. They might, but that is somewhat short sighted in my opinion. Yes, I realize COVID has been annoying us for over 2 years now, but the world is adapting and starting to get on with life. It’s possible there could be an impact to Q1 numbers but if there is, I would simply view that as a buying opportunity if the stock were to sell off (assuming this was the sole reason). Secondly, investors might be concerned that Estonia is a neighbor of Russia and formerly part of the USSR, which Putin seems to want to reunify. However, Estonia is part of NATO (and the EU), and thus not likely to be in Putin’s sights anytime soon as I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want to stick his hand in that hornet’s nest, especially given how poorly things are going for him in Ukraine at present. So without trying to understate the atrocities and humanitarian crisis going on in Ukraine, I personally don’t view there to be much, if any, risk to Neo’s Estonian assets.

As the market is tending to drift towards value and industrial stocks with the specter of rising interest rates making investors second guess the multiples applied to tech stocks, assuming they even have earnings, one could question why Neo’s stock price is trading far closer to its 52 week low instead of its 52 week high. Even if it were considered a “show me” stock, I would suggest looking at the last 4 (or more) quarterly earnings and question what else investors might be looking for. Net income, positive cash flow, virtually no debt and a 2.5% dividend yield put Neo Performance on a pretty good footing. Then consider the upside of the business segment they are involved in and one can make a strong case for taking a closer look at Neo Performance Materials.

Neo Lithium Corp. (TSXV: NLC | OTCQX: NTTHF) was one of the standout performers in 2021 delivering a return to investors of 219%, a 5.35x gain for those investors lucky enough to have bought in at the IPO on July 20, 2016 at C$1.20 per share. Neo Lithium is now trading at C$6.42 with the Zijin Mining takeover offer at C$6.50 a share having recently been approved by Neo Lithium shareholders.

Today’s article gives an update on Neo Lithium and mentions another company that has several things in common with Neo Lithium, meaning it could be the next success story.

An update on Neo Lithium

As announced on December 10, 2021 Neo Lithium shareholders approved the arrangement effectively selling their shares in Neo Lithium to China’s Zijin Mining Group at C$6.50 a share. 91.42% of shareholder votes were in favour of the transaction. The announcement stated: “Subject to obtaining all required approvals and satisfying all required conditions, the Transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022…..Following closing of the Transaction, the Common Shares will be de-listed from the TSX Venture Exchange.” There is the option for investors to buy into China copper-gold miner Zijin Mining Group (SHA: 601899) (HK: 2899) if they wish to still have exposure to Neo Lithium’s prized 3Q Project, whose Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was recently approved by the Catamarca Government in Argentina.

Effectively this ends the story for investors in Neo Lithium. But there is a another ‘Neo’ to consider.

Neo Performance Materials Inc. (TSX: NEO) – The next ‘Neo’

While there is no doubt that Neo Lithium President & CEO, Dr. Waldo Perez, (who also discovered Lithium Americas Cauchari Project) and its CFO, Carlos Vincens, played a huge role in the success of Neo Lithium, there is another person of interest. And that is Neo Lithium Chairman Constantine Karayannopoulos, who served on the Neo Lithium Board from February 9, 2016. He is also the President and Chief Executive Officer of Neo Performance Materials Inc. (TSX: NEO). Neo Performance Materials returned shareholders a 49% gain in 2021 and offers investors a similar early stage (to get in) opportunity, albeit this time in rare earths processing and permanent magnets materials.

For investors who believe success breeds success (as I do), and who look to follow star performers then I suggest you take a closer look at Neo Performance Materials. The Company is unique in the way it is positioning itself as the only non-Chinese processor of rare earth materials into separated rare earth chemicals that are then used internally to produce rare earth fine chemicals, metals, alloys, and “bonded” rare earth permanent magnets. You can read more about Neo Performance Materials in my linked article below.

• Neo Performance Materials looks to expand capacity as it rides the tailwind of growing rare earth permanent magnet demand

In the above article global rare earths expert Jack Lifton quotes his view on Neo Performance Materials stating:

“Neo Performance Materials is today, the only Western company that is vertically integrated with the capability and commercial scale capacity to separate the rare earths, manufacture rare earth metals and alloys, and manufacture rare earth permanent magnets. It is the non-Chinese model for any venture seeking to enter or assemble a total rare earths permanent magnet supply chain.”

Closing remarks

The story on Neo Lithium is now closing with the successful takeover by Zijin Mining now in its final stages. Investors who were in early, since the IPO, made a very nice 5.35x gain, and in some cases even more if they followed me buying at the 2019 low around C$0.58 (see my article here) and selling recently above C$6.40 for a 11x gain.

Looking ahead I see some similarities between Neo Lithium and Neo Performance Materials. Both have top quality management and Constantine Karayannopoulos is involved in both. Both companies are leaders in their field, noting Neo Lithium in lithium and Neo Performance Materials in rare earths processing and production of valuable rare earth based end products. Finally, both are beneficiaries of the EV boom and the demand for EV related metals such as lithium and the rare earths, NdPr.

They say follow the money and that is true, but better still is to follow successful top tier management, especially if they have the tailwind of a winning trend.

In 2022 we say farewell to Neo Lithium and hello to Neo Performance Materials. It should be another great year for those companies related to the electric vehicle boom.

Demand for rare earth metals and magnets has been very strong in 2021, boosted by an approximate 100% surge in electric car sales so far in 2021. This means that companies that sell the valuable magnet metals such as neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr) are doing very well, as NdPr (the combination is called “didymium” in the trade) is used to produce high performance neodymium, iron, and boron (NdFeB) magnets, used in many electric cars today.

Neo Performance Materials Inc. (TSX: NEO) (“Neo”) is a rare Western company that processes natural rare earth mixtures to produce individual high value separated rare earth chemicals, then uses them to produce rare earth fine chemicals, metals, alloys, and “bonded” rare earth permanent magnets. Neo summarizes well when they state:

“Neo is the only company in the world that operates dual supply chains inside and outside of China for REE separation and REE advanced materials. Neo owns the only operating commercial rare earth separation facility in Europe.”

Neo operates globally with sales and production across 10 countries including: Japan, China, Thailand, Estonia, Singapore, Germany, United Kingdom, Canada, United States, and South Korea.

Neo Performance Materials global operations

Source: Neo Performance Materials investor presentation

Neo explores a possible expansion, and new production of advanced rare earth element products in Estonia

As announced on November 17, 2021: “Joint Communiqué in Support of Expanding Valued-Added Rare Earth Product Manufacturing in Estonia. A joint effort between the Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and Neo Performance Materials has been launched to explore a possible expansion of Neo’s current production of advanced rare earth element (“REE”) products in Estonia, and well as to potentially launch new manufacturing of REE-based metals, alloys, and magnetic materials for use in electric vehicles and other green technologies.”

The timing to expand in Europe is perfect given the massive rise in European and global EV sales. For example, Europe’s electric car sales were 184,000 in October 2021, up 26% YoY, reaching 23% market share. Germany reached 30% share, France 23%, and Netherlands 35% share in October 2021. It also times nicely with Tesla beginning electric car production at Giga Berlin in 2022.

Only a day earlier on November 16, 2021, Neo announced: “Completion of $100.66 Million Bought Deal Treasury and Secondary Offering of Common Shares…..The Company issued and sold from treasury an aggregate of 2,598,000 Common Shares at a price of $19.25 per share for total gross proceeds to the Company of approximately $50.01 million.”

The above announcement does not mention what the $50.01 million will be used for; however, it seems to me more than just a coincidence that only a day later Neo announced their Estonia expansion plans. I will let the reader draw their own conclusions.

Neo continues to produce strong financials in 2021

In 2021 Neo continues to deliver strong YoY revenue and income growth; albeit revenue and adjusted net income were slightly lower than last quarter.

As announced on November 8, 2021, Neo reported Q3 2021 revenue of US$119.8 million, higher by 53.9% YoY. Volumes in the quarter of 3,523 tonnes improved by 16.1% YoY. Adjusted net income was US$9.8 million, or $0.26 per share.

This compares to Q2 2021 results of revenue of US$135.1 million up 99.5% YoY and adjusted net income of US$14.1 million, or US$0.37 per share.

Neo Performance Materials financials summary quarter by quarter from Q2 2020 to Q3 2021

Source: Neo Performance Materials investor presentation

More about Neo

Neo is a processor and manufacturer of advanced industrial materials including rare earth metals, alloys, and “bonded” rare earth permanent magnets, specialty chemicals, technology metals, and alloys. Neo is well positioned in markets that are forecast to see robust, long-term growth driven by multiple global macro trends, such as vehicle electrification, industrial automation, consumer electronics, energy efficient lighting, air and water pollution control, and greater use of superalloys.

Global rare earths expert Jack Lifton’s view on Neo:

“Neo Performance Materials is today, the only Western company that is vertically integrated with the capability and commercial scale capacity to separate the rare earths, manufacture rare earth metals and alloys, and manufacture rare earth permanent magnets. It is the non-Chinese model for any venture seeking to enter or assemble a total rare earths permanent magnet supply chain.”

Closing remarks

While companies such as Tesla get all the headlines, did you know that Neo’s stock price is performing better than Tesla in 2021. YTD in 2021 Neo Performance Materials stock price is up 62% compared to Tesla up 46%.

The other key difference is Neo trades on a PE of 14.8 compared to Tesla on a PE of 302. Both stocks are being supported by the booming EV trend, just one is many multiples cheaper (based on current PE ratios).

Investors would be wise to take a deeper look at Neo Performance Materials especially now while they trade on a reasonable multiple and look set to expand in Estonia.