6-K
IPERIONX Ltd (IPX)
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 6-K
REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER
Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16 of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date: June 25, 2024
Commission File Number: 001-41338
IperionX Limited
(Translation of registrant’s name into English)
129 W Trade Street, Suite 1405
Charlotte, North Carolina
(Address of principal executive offices)
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F.
Form 20-F ☒ Form 40-F ☐
EXHIBIT INDEX
The following exhibits are filed as part of this Form 6-K:
| Exhibit | Description |
|---|---|
| 99.1 | Corporate Presentation |
SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
| IPERIONX LIMITED | ||
|---|---|---|
| (registrant) | ||
| Date: June 25, 2024 | By: | /s/ Marcela Castro |
| Name: | Marcela Castro | |
| --- | --- | |
| Title: | Chief Financial Officer |
Exhibit 99.1
Corporate Presentation June 2024 IperionX Limited NASDAQ and ASX: IPX
Disclaimers 3 Forward Looking Statements Information included in this release constitutes forward-looking statements. Often, but not always, forward looking statements can generally be identified by the use of forward looking words such as “may”, “will”, “expect”, “intend”, “plan”, “estimate”, “anticipate”, “continue”, and “guidance”, or other similar words and may include, without limitation, statements regarding plans, strategies and objectives of management, anticipated production or construction commencement dates and expected costs or production outputs. Forward looking statements inherently involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause IperionX Limited’s (the “Company”) actual results, performance, and achievements to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements. Relevant factors may include, but are not limited to, changes in commodity prices, foreign exchange fluctuations and general economic conditions, increased costs and demand for production inputs, the speculative nature of exploration and project development, including the risks of obtaining necessary licenses and permits and diminishing quantities or grades of reserves, political and social risks, changes to the regulatory framework within which the company operates or may in the future operate, environmental conditions including extreme weather conditions, recruitment and retention of personnel, industrial relations issues and litigation. Forward looking statements are based on the Company and its management’s good faith assumptions relating to the financial, market, regulatory and other relevant environments that will exist and affect the Company’s business and operations in the future. The Company does not give any assurance that the assumptions on which forward looking statements are based will prove to be correct, or that the Company’s business or operations will not be affected in any material manner by these or other factors not foreseen or foreseeable by the Company or management or beyond the Company’s control. Although the Company attempts and has attempted to identify factors that would cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those disclosed in forward looking statements, there may be other factors that could cause actual results, performance, achievements or events not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended, and many events are beyond the reasonable control of the Company. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward looking statements. Forward looking statements in these materials speak only at the date of issue. Subject to any continuing obligations under applicable law or any relevant stock exchange listing rules, in providing this information the company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any of the forward looking statements or to advise of any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based. Cautionary Statements and Important Information This presentation has been prepared by the Company as a summary only and does not contain all information about assets and liabilities, financial position and performance, profits and losses, prospects, and the rights and liabilities attaching to securities. Any investment in the Company should be considered speculative and there is no guarantee that they will make a return on capital invested, that dividends would be paid, or that there will be an increase in the value of the investment in the future. The Company does not purport to give financial or investment advice. No account has been taken of the objectives, financial situation or needs of any recipient of this presentation. Recipients of this presentation should carefully consider whether the securities issued by the Company are an appropriate investment for them in light of their personal circumstances, including their financial and taxation position. Competent Persons Statements The information in this document that relates to Exploration Results and Mineral Resources is extracted from IperionX’s ASX Announcement dated October 6, 2021 (“Original ASX Announcement”) which is available to view at IperionX’s website at www.iperionx.com. The Company confirms that a) it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in the Original ASX Announcement; b) all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the Mineral Resource Estimate included in the Original ASX Announcement continue to apply and have not materially changed; and c) the form and context in which the relevant Competent Persons’ findings are presented in this report have not been materially changed from the Original ASX Announcement. IPERIONX LIMITED ABN 84 618 935 372
Our plan is to re-shore a low cost, sustainable, U.S. titanium supply chain Titanium supply chain is currently high cost, environmentally unsustainable and dominated by China and Russia IperionX offers an end-to-end, cheaper and cleaner solution via innovative technologies Our technologies have been proven with over 18+ months of industrialized pilot scale production in Utah Large scale production begins in Virginia during 2024 with 100% titanium metal scrap feedstock Future backward integration using up-graded minerals from Titan Projects’ critical titanium mineral resources Longer-term ambitions to disrupt the US$300+ billion stainless steel and aluminum markets Led by an experienced management team, with strong support from Tier-1 investors 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 3
Titanium has superior material properties that are prized across advanced industries High strength-to-weight ratio Titanium alloys can have a far higher strength-to-weight ratio than aluminum and magnesium alloys 45% lighter than steel Titanium alloys can be 3-5x stronger than stainless steel Superior corrosion resistance Durable, long-life products that don't need paint Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II ~20% titanium by weight Consumer Electronics Titanium used in frames and enclosures 3
China and Russia control ~70% of the global titanium supply chain PRIMARY TITANIUM (TITANIUM SPONGE) PRODUCTION CAPACITY Metric tons per annum 10,000 5,000 5 Source: U.S. Geological Survey. Locations shown are approximate. Primary global titanium supply chain.
Current production of titanium is complex, high cost and unsustainable High temperature (1,300oC), highly corrosive chlorination, reduction and distillation process to form titanium metal sponge High temperature (1,850oC) multi-vacuum melting processes to form ingots High temperature, low yielding, forging processes to form semi-finished titanium products (plates, sheets, bar, wire, etc.) Very low yield manufacturing process to produce final titanium parts The ingot to final titanium metal part supply chain has less than 10-20% yield High-energy, high-carbon, and unsustainable titanium supply chain 6
Hydrogen Assisted Metallothermic Reduction (HAMR) “refining” technology Simpler, faster and lower temperature (<800oC) process Energy consumption <50% vs. current industry, and zero direct carbon emissions2 Powders are an ingot replacement product, no need for Kroll and VAR melting IperionX’s titanium technologies1 are simple, low cost and sustainable Hydrogen Sintering and Phase Transformation (HSPT) “forging” technology Non-melt, sintering technology delivers forged quality titanium HAMR and HSPT lower the cost, energy, and yield loss of producing titanium mill products Patented, disruptive technologies that can produce titanium near-net shape products at lower cost Unlocks a circular and zero direct carbon emission titanium supply chain IperionX holds exclusive rights over a suite of titanium metal technologies. Refer to ASX announcement dated December 8, 2022 for further details Based on the expected use of 100% renewable power at IperionX’s facilities 7
8 We have successfully proven large scale titanium production 18+ months of titanium production from our industrial pilot facility Production results exceeded industry standards Off-the-shelf, low cost and scalable technology 8 Multiple large scale hot-test runs at ~60x the production capacity of our industrial pilot facility Furnace installed at Virginia and nearing first production
9 1. Richemont: See ASX announcements dated August 20, 2022 and November 17, 2022 for details; AFRL: See ASX announcement dated January 18, 2023 for details; Carver Pump and NAVSEA (US Navy):See ASX announcement dated February 6, 2023 for details; U.S. Navy’s Naval Air Systems Command: See ASX announcement dated February 3, 2022 for details; SLM: See ASX announcement dated March 14, 2023 for details; Canyon: See ASX announcement dated March 29, 2023 for details; Ford: See ASX Announcement dated June 13 2023 for details; Lockheed Martin: See ASX Announcement dated July 18 2023 for details; GKN Aerospace: See ASX announcement dated October 2, 2023 Our high-performance titanium products have secured the interest of leading potential customers Aerospace and Defense Naval and Defense Bicycles and E-mobility Consumer and Luxury Goods Aerospace and Defense Industrial Fasteners Industrial Gears
We are now scaling to commercial production at our Virginia Titanium Manufacturing Campus Titanium Production Facility “TPF / 1080 Building” ”Refining” of titanium scrap into high-quality titanium metal powders Advanced Manufacturing Center “AMC / 1092 Building” “Forging” and “printing” of titanium metal powders into high-quality titanium metal products TPF / 1080 Building AMC / 1092 Building 10
Titanium Production Facility - furnace installed, with first titanium production in Q3 2024 Increasing titanium production capacity by +60x Scaling from ~2 tpa to 125+ tpa of titanium powder Phased expansion for higher production at lower costs 2,000+ tpa target capacity by 2026 with estimated operating costs of US$30/kg Phased production growth at lower capital intensity ~2,000 tpa target capacity at estimated capital costs of ~US$70 million Multiple U.S. Government funding opportunities U.S. government funding options include grants and equipment finance 10
Advanced Manufacturing Center - first titanium products produced, scaling in Q3 2024 Advanced manufacturing of high-strength titanium products Semi-finished titanium products, near-net shape forged titanium components and high-value titanium products using additive manufacturing Advanced center for titanium research and development Commercial development of titanium alloys, powder metallurgy and manufacturing technologies Manufacturing high-performance titanium product range Sustainable competitive advantage captures value uplift from manufacturing high-performance titanium products Part finishing Additive manufacturing operations Advanced manufacturing / forging technologies Laboratories, testing, QA/QC and offices R&D laboratory 10
Titan Project underpins a low-cost, end-to-end U.S. titanium supply chain solution The fully permitted Titan Project in Tennessee is one of the largest titanium mineral resources in North America Titan Project is a leading U.S. resource of critical titanium, zircon and rare earth minerals Titan Project combined with our titanium technologies to deliver an end-to-end solution for the U.S. titanium supply chain Further technical studies will be advanced once third-party funding opportunities – including U.S. Government funding applications and multiple strategic customer negotiations – are successfully completed 13 13
Source: USITC DataWeb 14 The U.S. titanium supply chain is fragmented, high risk, and vulnerable to supply shocks ~US$117,000 per tonne pricing on ~US$1.1bn of U.S. exported semi-finished titanium products in 2023 Supply constrained, rising price environment with the average price of exported semi-finished titanium products rising 14% in 2023, reflecting: Supply shocks from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine Raw material price increases and disruptions Increasing demand for titanium - 25,000 50,000 75,000 100,000 125,000 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 US$/t Exported Semi-Finished Wrought Titanium Products Exported Titanium Bars & Rods - Billets Imported Titanium Scrap ~US$57,000 per tonne pricing on ~US$0.5bn of U.S. exported bar and rod / billet titanium products in 2023
Led by a highly experienced senior leadership team Anastasios “Taso” Arima Co-founder, MD and CEO Successful founder of multiple billion-dollar companies, including most recently Piedmont Lithium (Nasdaq: PLL) Todd Hannigan Executive Chairman 25+ years of global experience in natural resources as company founder, CEO, private capital investor, and non-executive director Toby Symonds President, Chief Strategy Officer 30+ years in capital markets, founder of two asset management firms Jeanne McMullin Chief Legal Officer 25+ years in corporate law, previously CLO of start-up tech PE firm Dominic Allen Chief Commercial Officer 15+ years commercial experience across the metals and minerals sector Vaughn Taylor Audit Committee Chair Rem. Committee Chair 20+yrs senior investment executive, Ex CIO of AMB Capital Partners, Board member global organizations Independent Board Members Lorraine Martin Audit Committee Member ESG Committee Member 35+yrs senior aerospace exec. at Lockheed Martin, CEO National Safety Council, Board Member; Kennametal Beverly Wyse Audit Committee Member Rem. Committee Member ESG Committee Member 30+yrs senior aerospace exec. at Boeing, Board Member; Heroux-Devtek Melissa Waller ESG Committee Chair Rem. Committee Member 30+yrs senior finance exec. President of the AIF Institute 15 Scott Sparks Chief Operating Officer 30+ years in engineering, construction and management Marcela Castro Chief Financial Officer 25+ years of financial leadership experience across multiple industries
- JORC and SK-1300 code compliant 16 Secure strategic partners for our titanium metal products Test powders and/or prototype parts with prospective customers Secured prospective customer and government validation Secure additional customers across core industry sectors Progress Titan Project to be construction ready Definition of largest known titanium mineral resource in U.S.1 Scoping Study / Initial Assessment completed State Mine and NPDES permit PFS and / or FS, critical minerals sales contracts and FID Scale up production of titanium powder and products Titanium Production Facility (expansion to 1,000+tpa) CAPEX and OPEX Large scale furnace hot test and powder production run Complete final engineering for Titanium Production Facility Commence equipment installation at Titanium Production Facility Commission HAMR furnace at Titanium Production Facility Produce titanium components at Advanced Manufacturing Center High value catalysts are imminent Ordinary Shares / ADR’s (1:10) Outstanding 257.2 million / 25.7 million Market Capitalization (21-June-2024) ~US$350 million Cash (31-Mar-2024, pro-forma) ~US$45 million Fidelity Management and Research (FMR) ~10% Fidelity International (FIL) ~7% Insider/management Ownership ~30% ADS Price (US$) Corporate Overview (NASDAQ / ASX Ticker Symbol: IPX) $17.50 $15.00 $12.50 $10.00 $7.50 $5.00 $2.50 $0.00
Supporting Information
Titan Project is a very large potential source of U.S. titanium minerals Titanium, zircon and rare earth critical minerals Geological target is the McNairy Sand, a massive mineral formation that extends across West Tennessee Existing mineral resource estimate covers only a small portion of the secured landholdings Potential for new resource discoveries within land controlled by IperionX Opportunities to add new land holdings to further increase the resource base 1. See ASX announcement dated October 6, 2021 for details JORC Mineral Resource1 Total Critical Mineral Assemblage Titan Project Cut-off Tonnes TCM % TCM Zircon Rutile Ilmenite REE (TCM %) (Mt) (%) (Mt) (%) (%) (%) (%) Indicated 0.4 241 2.2 5.3 11.3 9.3 39.7 2.1 Inferred 0.4 190 2.2 4.2 11.7 9.7 41.2 2.2 Total Mineral Resource 0.4 431 2.2 9.5 11.5 9.5 40.3 2.1 Including High Grade Core 2.0 195 3.7 7.1 12.1 9.9 42 2.3 19
IperionX’s Green RutileTM technology could add significant value to the Titan Project IperionX’s patented low-carbon “Green RutileTM” mineral enrichment technology can upgrade lower-grade ilmenite titanium minerals into a high-grade, higher-value titanium ‘synthetic rutile’ product Green RutileTM has been successfully proven at a bench scale, with pilot scale production design now underway for completion in 2024 Green RutileTM process could also unlock value with potential critical co- products such as LFP battery feedstock or high-purity iron powder Low-carbon Green RutileTM product has been successfully tested by potential customers in Japan and the U.S. IperionX plans to integrate Green RutileTM enrichment plant options into the Titan Project’s PFS and / or Feasibility Study, to potentially add significant value to the Titan Project’s final economics 19
Titan Project Technical Studies IperionX has now completed key long lead assessments for the Titan Project PFS and / or Feasibility Study, including metallurgical test work and permits Titan Project technical studies (PFS and / or Feasibility Study) are anticipated to be advanced and completed following the culmination of the below activities, which may conclude in late 2024: Completion of Green RutileTM pilot process design studies, for full integration into the final Titan Project PFS and / or Feasibility Study Potential U.S. Government funding opportunities, including a recently submitted application to co-fund the Titan Project PFS and / or Feasibility Study, and co-fund the scale-up of IperionX’s mineral enrichment technologies and the Virginia Titanium Manufacturing Campus Potential funding and product offtake options from strategic investors, including Japanese companies, that are moving towards advanced stages of negotiations 19
21 In the long term, the total addressable market is the global lightweight structural metals market Aluminum Market2 ~$165bn* Stainless Steel Market3 ~$200bn* Titanium Market1 ~$4bn* * Estimated Global Market Summary in USD. TAM market sizes are built up using 2022 material pricing Sources: Roskill, Argus Metals. 2019 titanium melt products production of ~283kt at Q4-2022 Rotterdam Ti64 pricing of ~$16/kg. Note: Titanium market size uses 2019 volumes as base year, due to the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Sources: Jefferies Equity Research, LME. Harbor Aluminum. 2021 global aluminum demand of ~67Mt at Q4-2022 pricing of ~$2.4/kg. Sources: International Stainless Steel Forum, MEPS, 2021 global stainless steel melt shop production of ~56Mt at Q4-2022 304 Coil pricing of ~$3.6/kg.
We have been producing high-quality titanium with our award-winning technologies for over 18 months Consistent and repeatable process achieving high quality standard 4.50 4.30 4.10 3.90 3.70 3.50 3.30 3.10 2.90 2.70 2.50 Pre-HAMR Oxygen Wt. % Ti64 ASTM Grade 5 Standard - 1.00 0.90 0.80 0.70 0.60 0.50 0.40 0.30 0.20 0.10 Post-HAMR Oxygen Wt. % 23
Titanium production is complex, high cost and unsustainable $3,000 - $15,000/t Titanium Sponge Titanium Mill $50,000 - Products $200,000+/t Titanium Products Vacuum Arc Remelting Titanium Mineral Kroll Process Titanium Ingot Forging and Rolling/Extrusion Titanium $75,000 - Powders $200,000+/t Titanium Scrap Traditional Machining Near Net Shape Products Additive Mftg / 3D Printing less Machining $10,000 - $15,000/t $1,500 - $2,500/t $25,000 - $30,000/t Gas or Plasma Atomization +$200,000/t Kroll Process High temperature (1,300Co) batch process that requires high-quality titanium mineral feedstocks Uses chlorine gas and coke to produce titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4) + carbon emissions TiCl4 reduced by molten magnesium metal and the MgCl2 is distilled under high temperature Vacuum Arc Remelting High temperature process (1,850Co) with titanium sponge mixed with low oxygen titanium scrap and alloying elements, welded into an electrode and then melted under a vacuum Process repeated 2-3x times to ensure homogenous product Ingot weights of 6-11 tons required to underpin economics Forging and Rolling / Extrusion 6-11 metric ton ingot is broken down into billets (or slabs) via high temperature forging Billets are then heated and rolled ot extruded into plate, sheet, bar, wire etc. Multiple reheats required with each reheat step requiring grinding of the Ti-O “alpha case” layer Mill product yields are low e.g. 55-60% yield from ingot to 0.2” inch plate Traditional Machining Mill products often require machining to final titanium metal product resulting in high scrap generation vs resultant product (i.e., the “Buy-to-Fly” ratio) Buy-to-fly ratios often lead to <10% yield - ~13:1 buy-to-fly ratio for watch cases from titanium bar are common Gas or Plasma Atomization High temperature process where high quality bar or wire is atomized in an inert atmosphere into spherical powders Wide range of sizes produced with <50% yields of “in-spec” powders 23
*IperionX holds exclusive rights over the HAMR and HSPT technologies. 24 $3,000 - $15,000/t $50,000 - $200,000+/t Titanium Products Titanium Powders $75,000 - $200,000+/t Titanium Scrap HAMR “Refining” HSPT “Forging” less Machining Traditional Machining Additive Mftg / 3D Printing Titanium Mill Products Near Net Shape Products +$200,000/t HAMR “refining” technology Hydrogen Assisted Metallothermic Reduction (HAMR) process is based on a scientific breakthrough by Dr Zak Fang, Professor of Metallurgical Engineering at the University of Utah HAMR works by destabilizing the titanium-oxygen bonds and allowing for a simple reduction process – similar to iron ore to iron HAMR process is a low temperature (<800oC) fast (<6 hours) batch process and results in high quality titanium metal powders – potential conversion to an even faster continuous process The result is an efficient, scalable process that avoids both Kroll and ingot melting and is <50% energy requirements of the current supply chain with zero Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions HSPT “forging” technology Hydrogen Sintering and Phase Transformation (HSPT) is a non-melt sintering technology that results in ultrafine grain micro structured titanium metal products The HSPT products have “forged” or wrought like properties typically seen only with traditional forged titanium mill products Combined with low-cost metal powders, HSPT avoids the multiple high-cost forging steps, with the associated yield losses, to manufacture high performance titanium mill products HSPT can deliver “forged” near-net shape products to greatly reduce machining and final costs for titanium metal products Our titanium technologies can deliver low-cost, high-strength and sustainable titanium production
HAMR: The breakthrough science of a revolutionary technology Most common metals can be reduced to metal from oxides by carbon (or hydrogen) - this is not the case for Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) because of the stability of the Ti-O bonds William Kroll invented a process to overcome this challenge and it relies on chlorination of TiO2 in a carbothermal reaction to create TiCl4, which is then reduced by molten magnesium in a vacuum and distilled to produce titanium sponge Titanium sponge is then vacuum melted multiple times to create a titanium ingot which is then hot worked into mill products HAMR reduces TiO2 with magnesium under a hydrogen atmosphere, with hydrogen destabilizing the Ti-O bonds This principle can also be used to de-oxygenate recycled titanium scrap, as the most difficult impurity to “remove” is the oxygen on the surfaces – especially with machining titanium scrap HAMR revolutionizes the ability to manufacture high quality titanium metal and alloys from both titanium mineral or scrap Hydrogen’s effect on the Ti-O bonds Ti-O bonds at various weight percent (solid lines) vs. Ti-O-H bonds destabilized at various weight percent (dashed lines) @ 700 Co -255 -250 -245 -240 -235 -230 -225 -220 0.0 0.1 0.4 0.5 0.2 0.3 molar ratio of H /Ti Oxygen potential, kcal/mole O2 Ti-2.0wt% O-H Ti-1.0wt% O-H Ti-0.5wt% O-H Ti-0.166wt% O-H Ti-2.0wt% O Ti-0.166wt% O MgO Ti-1.0wt% O Ti-0.5wt% O * IperionX holds an exclusive option to acquire the HAMR technology and other associated technologies Dr Fang’s history: https://powder.metallurgy.utah.edu/research/hamr.php Original HAMR discovery article “A novel chemical pathway for energy efficient production of Ti metal from upgraded titanium slag”: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1385894715015016 25
300 200 100 700 600 500 400 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1,000 10,000 100,000 Number
of Cycles to Failure 1,000,000 10,000,000 Maximum Stress \(MPa\) As-sintered HSPT HSPT GIFed HSPT+GIF+HT\(Globular\) HSPT+GIF+HT\(Bi-modal\) Mill-annealed Pre-alloyed Blended Elemental Vacuum as-sintered microstructure HSPT as-sintered
microstructure HSPT: ‘Forged’ titanium, without the high-cost forging process Our patented HSPT technology unlocks a superior powder metallurgy pathway to manufacture ‘forged quality’ near-net shape titanium parts and components HSPT
delivers mechanical performance properties with traditional forging processes, but avoids the high-cost and high-emissions associated with them The process can use angular HAMR titanium powder as the powder metallurgy feedstock HAMR with
HSPT provides a superior manufacturing solution for low-cost, sustainable and high-quality titanium parts for demanding applications HSPT = Hydrogen sintering and Phase Transformation; GIF = Gaseous Isostatic Forging; HT = Heat Treatment
IPERIONX LIMITED ABN 84 618 935 372