Meteoric Resources Ltd (ASX: MEI) says it's in a prime position to benefit from the recent interest in the rare earths market, with the commissioning of a pilot plant in November the next important milestone for the company.
The company, which was valued at $594.2 million at the close of trade on Thursday, released a quarterly update to the market on Friday morning.
The company's managing director, Stuart Gale, said the company had released a prefeasibility study for the company's Caldeira project in Brazil during the quarter, which was well-timed to take advantage of the recent interest in rare earths production globally.
Mr Gale said:
Importantly, the speed and depth of work completed at the Caldeira Project since late 2022 has put Meteoric in an excellent position to capitalise on the significant momentum in the rare earth industry. The volume and quality of drilling, geological data, metallurgical test work and engineering studies positions us to advance development of Caldeira Project to meet increasing demand and diversification of the rare earth supply chain.
Image source: Getty Images
Project continues to develop
Mr Gale said the company's confidence in the prefeasibility study's outcomes continued to strengthen, with a fourth test program conducted by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) during the quarter.
Results from this five-day continuous piloting program confirm excellent … recoveries including 70% recovery of the magnetic rare earth elements.
Mr Gale said the company was looking forward to the commissioning of a pilot plant in Brazil in November to further validate the ANSTO results.
The pilot plant would also be able to provide material to customers for their own testing needs and could conduct further downstream trials.
The prefeasibility study, which was published in July, estimated that the Caldeira Project had a payback period of less than three years and a mine life of 20 years.
Mr Gale said a successful capital raising during the quarter "reflected the high level of confidence and support of key institutional investors from around the world in the Caldeira Project''.
Meteoric Resources raised $42.5 million at 14 cents per share in a capital raise, which it said was "heavily over-subscribed" and upsized.
The company's quarterly report indicates that it had $44.4 million in cash on hand as of the end of September.
Macquarie recently released a research note with a 39-cent price target on the company. Meteoric Resources shares closed at 22.5 cents on Thursday.
Macquarie has a price target of $18.50 on Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC) shares, which last changed hands at $19.07, and a price target of $7.10 on Iluka Resources Ltd (ASX: ILU), compared with $7.81 at Thursday's close.
