“Neo Performance Materials’ organization today is the closest that North America has yet come to a totally vertically integrated rare earth permanent magnet supplier. Now, the company has acquired and is moving to bring a significant rare earth deposit in Greenland into production. When that occurs, it will be the first company outside of China, ever, to be a totally vertically integrated manufacturer of rare earth permanent magnets. We should all be watching Neo Performance as if our (self-sufficient and secure) independent economic lives depend on it.” — Jack Lifton, Co-Chairman, Critical Minerals Institute

Neo Performance Materials Inc. (TSX: NEO) (“Neo”) produces specialty materials that incorporate specialty materials that are mostly rare earth based, but also include other technology metals, such as gallium and cobalt, all of which are necessary in its feature product, bonded rare earth permanent magnets. Neo is the only company in the world that operates dual supply chains inside and outside of China for rare earth elements (REE) separation and REE advanced materials. Neo owns the only operating commercial rare earth separation facility in Europe, located in Estonia. Neo operates globally with sales and production across 10 countries.

Neo’s advanced materials are essential components of many of the world’s fastest growing cleantech applications

Source: Neo company presentation

Neo’s growth plans and acquisitions

Neo continues to grow and expand its business and now has several projects in the pipeline.

These include the following:

1. Growth of Neo’s existing operations – Magnequench (a global leader in bonded neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnetic powders and magnets), Chemicals and Oxides, and Rare Metals (gallium, indium, rhenium, tantalum, niobium, and hafnium).
2. An EU Magnet Manufacturing Plant with ground breaking in June 2023 and planned production of sintered rare earth magnets in Estonia to begin in 2025.
3. Controlling interest (90%) in newly acquired SG Technologies Group Limited (“SGTec“), one of Europe’s leading advanced, specialty manufacturers of rare-earth-based and other high-performance magnets.
4. Various rare earths supply chain projects and agreements – Sarfartoq Project exploration license in Greenland, Yangibana Project in Australia (the owner Hastings Technology Metals Limited (ASX: HAS) is Neo’s largest shareholder so a supply arrangement looks highly probable, Koppamurra Project in Australia non-binding MOU for off-take of potentially 50% of the planned production of mixed rare earth carbonate, supply agreement with Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE American: UUUU | TSX: EFR) (from USA) of mixed REE carbonate.

Q1 2023 Financials weaker due to weaker pricing dynamics

Some investors may have been disappointed that Neo’s Q1, 2023 financials were weaker than a year earlier. Consolidated revenue was US$135.5 million in Q1, 2023, compared to US$166.3 million for the same period in the prior year.

However, it needs to be factored in that the key magnet rare earths prices have fallen heavily over the past year (neodymium is down 50.21%).

Looking on the positive side Neo still has a very healthy balance sheet with cash and cash equivalents of US$145.7 million (as of March 31, 2023) and Neo generated positive net cash of US$12.2 million in Q1, 2023.

The fall in neodymium prices in the past year is fairly similar to the lithium price fall. Both had a huge run-up, then slower China EV sales in early 2023 sent prices crashing as manufacturers chose to wind down inventory and delay purchases until prices were back at low levels. All of this bodes well for some stabilization of prices now and potential to move higher from here if demand accelerated in H2, 2023.

Investors can listen to the Neo Q1, 2023 earnings call here. Neo’s President & CEO Constantine Karayannopoulos discusses the causes for lower magnet rare earths demand (China property slowdown, higher interest rates impacting negatively on wind farms, China EV sales slowdown) and the impact of lower rare earths pricing and the Company’s growth plans. He says “I believe we are nearing the end of that restabilisation” in rare earth prices. Meaning the rare earth price falls are near the end.

Neodymium 10 year price chart

Source: Trading Economics

Closing remarks

Neo has just weathered a challenging past few quarters caused mostly by rare earths price declines as China EV sales slowed and manufacturers reduced inventory. Despite this Neo finished Q1, 2023 in a very strong cash position and continues to make progress on their growth plans.

As the macro picture hopefully starts to improve in H2 2023, especially for China EV sales, Neo should once again be a winner of the macro trend of increased global use of the magnet rare earth products and the specialty rare metals, that are all needed to drive the cleantech revolution.

Neo Performance Materials trades on a market cap of C$377 million.

Hastings Technology Metals Ltd. (ASX: HAS), an Australian junior mining company, has recently made some interesting moves in the rare earths space.  Its major announcement on August 26th was that through an investment from Wyloo Metals in Hastings in the amount of A$150 million, it was acquiring the majority of Oaktree Capital Management’s shares in Neo Performance Materials Inc. (TSX: NEO). Oaktree acquired a controlling position in NEO in 2015 as it emerged from the bankruptcy of Molycorp. This will result in Hastings owning somewhere in the range of 20% of NEO on the same day that NEO announced a bought deal of C$65 million, which would dilute the original 22.1% position Oaktree was selling. From their press release: “Hastings views the Acquisition as the first step in its Hastings 2.0 strategy, to create a fully-integrated mine-to- magnet supply chain business. Wyloo is supportive of this vision and Hastings is pleased to have the support of Wyloo as a strategic partner.”

Wyloo Metals is a company owned by Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest, an Australian billionaire, who made his money selling iron ore from Australia. Earlier this year Wyloo outbid BHP for Noront, whose deposit in the Ring of Fire, Northern Ontario is a high-grade nickel-copper-platinum-palladium deposit with a bid worth C$616.9 million.  This recent choice by Wyloo to invest in Hastings is another move in their aim “to develop and invest in the next generation of mines”. Given the funds available from Wyloo is it possible Hastings will increase its position in NEO, given the recent record profits from NEO? They have said there is no plan to increase their holding.

On September 7th Hastings announced a A$110 million two tranche placement with the goal to accelerate its rare earths deposit in Western Australia. In addition, they announced a non-underwriting share purchase plan (SPP) to raise up to A$10 million. The aim is to accelerate the rare earth deposit they are developing, which is known as the Yangibana deposit in Western Australia. The deposit had a JORC resource reported in 2019. There are seven areas reported as shown in the chart below:

Deposit	Tonnes	TREO	Nd2O3+Pr6O11
		%	%
Bald Hill	4,405,000	1.02	0.41
Fraser’s	638,000	1.61	0.68
Auer	728,000	1.12	0.41
Auer North	148,000	1.24	0.47
Yangibana	986,000	0.93	0.44
Yangibana West	1,478,000	1.23	0.34
Yangibana North	1,964,000	1.72	0.44
Total	10,345,000	1.22	0.43

The reported percentages of Neodymium(III) oxide (Nd2O3) and Praseodymium oxide (Pr6O11) are high compared to most other global deposits, which is intriguing, as these are the main revenue drivers in all deposits globally except for ionic clay deposits, like the ones in Southern China. What is challenging is the TREO (Total Rare Earth Oxides) grade averaging 1.22%, which will increase operating costs. By comparison, MP Materials’ Mountain Pass mine in California is reported around 8%. However, Yangibana average Nd/Pr of 43% is about 3 times higher than Mountain Pass.

On February 21st of this year, Hastings announced an increase in the NPV of the Yangibana project of 84% to $1,012 million and an IRR of 26%. When looking at Shanghai Metal Markets pricing in mid-February Neodymium oxide (Nd2O3) was $190/kg USD and Praseodymium oxide (Pr6O11) was $172/kg.  Today those prices are $91.11/kg or a 50% reduction.

Looking at Hastings’ August and September presentations, their focus is not on separating the rare earths into single elements but view that as NEO’s focus. Their stated plan is to produce 15,000 tonnes per year of a mixed rare earth carbonate, which typically is around 45-50% total rare earth oxides (TREO). This would generate 6,750-7,500 tonnes of TREO.  This is over double the current capacity of NEO’s plant in Estonia. Hastings has already committed 70% of their first 10 years’ output to ThyssenKrupp and Skyrock, so this would leave 2,000-2,250 TPY for NEO.  ThyssenKrupp will likely sell the material to China as it does for Rainbow Rare Earths. Skyrock is a part of the Baotou rare earth group, so the majority of the Yangibana deposit will end up in China, unless there is an out clause and NEO expands its non-Chinese capacity.

It will be interesting to see how this new relationship in the rare earths space develops. This is certainly not the end of the story.