MHM

May 2013 Top40

2013-06-04T13:53:00.000+10:00

charts

2013-05-23T14:04:00.001+10:00

22/05/2013

MHM Research Report

2013-05-04T15:29:00.004+10:00

MHM Research Report

April Top40 2013

2013-05-03T13:17:00.000+10:00

March top20 2013

2013-04-02T17:44:00.001+11:00

Company Updates

2013-03-20T14:22:00.000+11:00

ASX Release – 18 March 2013

HIGHLIGHTS

• New twelve month agreement signed with Alcoa commencing 1 April 2013
• Sales of Non Metallic Product (NMP) commenced
• Order for new filter press confirmed with delivery expected Q2 2013

Customer Contracts

MHM’s wholly owned subsidiary Alreco Pty Ltd, which operates the Moolap aluminium waste treatment
facility, has been running at a large net operating loss over the past three years. This takes into
account the cost of processing material for which income has been received but which was not
processed.

Over the past six months MHM has been working to improve processing throughput, increase
efficiency and cut costs, with considerable success to date. However the operations remain cash
negative so MHM has been in negotiation with its customers to increase processing fees to address
this situation.

MHM has signed a new agreement for 12 months with Alcoa that significantly increases income to put
the Alreco and the Moolap plant in a cash positive position for the coming year. The new contract
includes a tolling fee for new material received, new incentives for increased processing rates and for
removal of stockpiled material from Alcoa’s Moolap landfill site and includes three monthly reviews to
ensure targets are being met.

The board greatly appreciates the substantial support and co-operation Alcoa has given throughout
the past three months to reach an agreement that meets the needs of both parties.

Moolap Plant and NMP (AL80)

The Moolap plant has continued to operate at levels previously confirmed on a 5 day/2 shift basis,
with weekends used for maintenance and operation of the small filter press. The operational processes
have been refined and are resulting in a more consistent end product and improved plant reliability.
Issues with fines are still restricting efficiency and capacity and this is being addressed. Both
operating costs and overheads have been greatly reduced, but the flowthrough effect of these usually
lags and these are just starting to be realised.

MHM can confirm that in the past month major steps forward have been taken in the options for sale
and/or disposal of non-metallic product (NMP or AL80). Again Alcoa has been heavily involved and its
contribution has been very valuable.

MHM has made a number of sales within Australia for use in the industrial and refractory sectors.
These are small volumes initially but results have been very positive and potential for expansion is
excellent. Further product has also been supplied for larger volumes for other uses both within
Australia and overseas and we expect orders to follow.

Most recently MHM gained independent confirmation that the NMP produced at Moolap can be
classified as a non-hazardous industrial waste. This opens up many other opportunities for disposal,
either in its own right or by blending with other materials. A number of these options are being
actively assessed as short term solutions to clear stockpiles if cost neutral or longer term solutions if
income generating.

Filter Press

As previously advised MHM placed an order last year for a new filter press for the Moolap plant. This
unit was ordered from Belgium where it had been installed but never used. The unit is a high capacity,
fully automated unit that has capacity in excess of that needed for the current Moolap operations but
was purchased at a price substantially cheaper than a number of smaller new presses on offer in
various locations. It was strongly recommended compared with other options identified by MHM’s
engineers. The press was dismantled and crated up for export. In January MHM agreed with the
vendor to postpone the shipment (at no additional cost to the $100,000 deposit paid) pending the
outcome of negotiations with Alcoa to deliver a longer term contract and a solution to the disposal of
NMP. It was MHM’s view that this large capital investment should not be locked in until there was
more certainty on these two matters.

MHM confirms, based on signing the new Alcoa agreement and the progress on NMP as described
above, the contract for the new filter press has been confirmed with plans in place for immediate
shipping. Total cost is approximately $550,000 for the purchase, shipping and insurance with delivery
in 6-8 weeks. Civil works will be carried out on site during this delivery period so installation can
commence immediately upon receipt. Work to date has confirmed that installation can be completed
for much less than previously budgeted. The new filter press, once installed, will reduce costs and will
allow for increased throughput capacity at the plant that will allow stockpiles to be more quickly
reduced and maximise potential income.

Technology Update

In December 2012 MHM and Alreco put a proposed settlement offer to Frank Rogers and his partners
(both the operating Joint Venture and the technology owners). This offer required all agreements
between the parties to be terminated and the global ownership of the technology to be transferred to
MHM. In return for this MHM would take ownership and responsibility for all stockpiled material. The
parties agreed to provide mutual releases from all claims related to the agreements. There was no
monetary consideration to be paid or received for this settlement. This offer was accepted by all
parties in December subject to suitable deed of release being agreed and executed.

When the deed of release was drawn up and circulated in January, Mr Rogers and the other directors of
both the operating Joint Venture and the technology owners sought individual releases from
MHM/Alreco. In the settlement offer made in December MHM/Alreco offered releases to the
companies but did not offer personal releases to the directors of those companies. MHM/Alreco are
not willing to give a personal release to Mr Rogers as he is the former Managing Director of MHM.
This impasse has prevented the proposed deed of release from being executed.

MHM is currently taking advice and considering its options in relation to this development. MHM does
not believe that the failure to execute this deed of release will have a materially negative impact on its
ability to conduct its operations going forward.

Staff Changes

As previously announced on 15 February, Robert McAlister has commenced with MHM and will take
over from Phil Thick as CEO at the end of March. Robert has been working at the Moolap plant in
charge of all operations for four weeks and his presence there on the ground full time has already had
a large impact on progress with the plant and NMP options. Phil will remain on the MHM board as a
non-executive director.

Robert’s arrival has allowed John Pugh to return to the United States last month where he will continue
to represent MHM in the US in a reduced capacity, with a focus on maintaining relationships with key
stakeholders, particularly current and prospective customers, and to ensure upkeep of all matters
relating to MHM’s land and assets. John’s new role allows Ben Mead to be released and he will cease
employment with MHM in April 2013. Further this has allowed Simon Wells to finish his role at Moolap
and Simon has returned to Tasmania and ceases employment with MHM at the end of this month.

Link

Feb. 2013 top40

2013-03-05T10:56:00.000+11:00

January Top40 2013

2013-02-01T17:44:00.002+11:00

Mid-January 2013

2013-01-25T13:08:00.001+11:00

Mid-December Top40

2012-12-14T14:38:00.001+11:00

November Top20

2012-12-04T10:30:00.000+11:00

September top40 2012

2012-09-19T20:17:00.000+10:00

MHM top40

VOLUNTARY SUSPENSION

2012-09-12T21:04:00.000+10:00

REQUEST FOR VOLUNTARY SUSPENSION

MHM Metals Limited (ASX: MHM) requests an immediate voluntary suspension of its ordinary shares under ASX Listing Rule 17.2, pending an announcement by the Company in relation to the outcome of a strategic review of the Company’s operations.
The Company is seeking the suspension to maintain an orderly market in the trading of the Company’s shares. The Company:

 requests the suspension last until an announcement regarding the outcome of the strategic review is made;
 currently expects the suspension to remain in place for approximately 4 - 6 weeks; and
 is not aware of any reason why the suspension should not be granted.

Strategic Review

Since the appointment of Mr Phil Thick as Managing Director and CEO on 18 July 2012, Mr Thick has been actively involved reviewing the Company’s operations and especially with ensuring that the Geelong plant operates efficiently and consistently. While tonnages processed in recent weeks were encouraging a temporary processing interruption last week confirmed there is need to further improve processing to a level considered satisfactory by the Company.
After several process refinements over previous months, the Company has decided to undertake a deeper review of the Geelong plant operations. The Geelong plant will continue to operate throughout this period. The Company intends to engage independent experts to assist in verifying the outcomes of the review and this is expected to take approximately four to six weeks to complete. As the Company is not in a position to provide likely production levels at Geelong in the short to medium term, or as to the timing of determining design, costing and financing arrangements for the Kentucky plant, the board has decided to seek a voluntary suspension of its ordinary shares to allow the strategic review to be concluded in an orderly manner. Resumption of trading of the Company’s shares will occur when the results of the strategic review are finalised and disclosed.

The Company’s utmost endeavour in the shorter term is to provide shareholders with a clear outline and timetable for delivering consistent and profitable operations in Geelong and to finalise a plan for the financing for the Company’s US expansion.

August top20 2012

2012-09-03T11:03:00.000+10:00

July 2012 top20

2012-08-01T09:48:00.000+10:00

MHM

MHMO

MHM Appoints Phil Thick as Managing Director & CEO

2012-07-18T14:22:00.001+10:00

MHM Appoints Phil Thick as Managing Director & CEO

ASX Release – 18 July 2012

Phil Thick appointed Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
Frank Rogers assumes role of Technological Director in a continued executive board position
Board and management restructure effective immediately
Another independent Non-executive Director to be appointed in the near future
US-based Managing Director to be appointed next year

The Board of MHM Metals Limited (ASX:MHM) has appointed Mr Phil Thick as

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, with Frank Rogers assuming the

role of Technological Director in an ongoing executive board role. These

changes have been implemented and are effective immediately.

As the focus of MHM’s business shifts to the US over the next 12 months with

the planned construction of a major processing facility in Kentucky, the

company also expects to appoint a US-based Managing Director next year.

The management changes enable Mr Rogers to focus on MHM’s continued

technological development with Mr Thick bringing many years experience and a

successful track record to the Managing Director’s role.

Frank Rogers said, “Phil is a great asset for the company and his focus and

experience are crucial as the company ramps up in Geelong, builds its new

Kentucky plant and potential corporate changes with our silica assets.

“I remain completely committed and engaged with MHM with my focus devoted

to commecialising the company’s technologies. Since I founded this company in

2007 we have seen substantial success. Now is the right time to hand the reins

to Phil.”

Mr Thick has been given a mandate from the board to provide shareholders with a clear and concise roadmap

and timetable in the shorter term for delivering profitable operations in Geelong and to oversee finalisation of

financing for MHM’s US expansion.

Mr Thick will continue to strengthen relationships with key project stakeholders and government, and oversee

and administer heightened investor and public relations. Mr Thick plans to conduct an Australian investor

relations campaign during the coming month to outline the roadmap to maximising profitability.

Mr Thick said, “MHM is in a very exciting place, with the Geelong plant now operating well and agreement

reached with Alcoa on landfill processing, four US supply contracts and the aluminium oxide AL80 being

successfully exported to Asia.

“The two most important things for MHM to focus on and deliver are to get the Geelong plant operating

successfully on a 24 hour basis including stockpile processing, delivering the cash flow we expect, and to

finalise design, costing and financing arrangements for the Kentucky plant.

“I believe shareholders have lost some faith in our ability to deliver given some timelines and deadlines not

met. There are good reasons for this as we have been developing and improving the technology as we go,

but we have to hit our targets and I believe this new structure will make that happen. We are freeing up our

key people to focus fully on these key objectives over the coming months.”

Until recently Mr Thick was the CEO and director of WA-based chemical manufacturing and mining services

company Coogee Chemicals Pty Ltd, a company that employs 280 staff with operations throughout Australia

and south east Asia. Mr Thick has overseen a rapid period of growth in the business over the past four years.

Before this Mr Thick spent 20 years with Shell Australia performing sales and marketing roles before

branching into engineering and strategy positions including tenure as a senior executive of the board.

Mr Thick’s employment agreement with MHM involves the issue of 500,000 unlisted options, to provide

strong alignment with shareholders. The options will be issued pursuant to the existing Employee Share

Option Plan, with an agreed exercise price of $1 and an expiration date of 18 July 2017. The issue and terms

of these options remains subject to shareholder approval at the company Annual General Meeting in

November, or at any earlier meeting of shareholders.

The Board will be adding another independent Non-executive Director in the near future and continues to

engage with potential candidates.

Monthly Update

2012-07-11T23:07:00.002+10:00

MHM progress report

Plant upgrade completed at the Geelong salt cake and dross recycling facility
MHM and Alcoa have agreed the procedure and timing to commence processing Alcoa’s 160,000 tonne salt cake landfill
US plant capital cost being independently verified
US site works are continuing including parking area, office upgrade, fencing and preparation for civil works
Fourth US supply contract recently announced
Continuing discussions with other suppliers of aluminium waste streams including salt cake and black dross
Continuing investigations of debt, hybrid and equity financing mechanisms for the US plant
Silica Division progresses with advanced contract negotiations for additional silica resources
Advancing mechanisms to independently fund the Silica Division in a manner that is non-dilutionary to existing MHM shareholders

Australian Operations Update

...

The plant is performing well and is initially being operated on a two-shift basis to allow for fine-tuning and to establish accurate reagent consumption and operating procedures. A report will be provided when capacity 24-hour operations have run continuously for at least two weeks so that accurate continuous throughput data can be provided to the market. Daily operating tonnages already exceed incoming material and the blending of partly processed slag is being trialled to maximise the reduction of stockpiles.

...

MHM and Alcoa have agreed a program to commence processing Alcoa’s 160,000 tonne salt cake landfill as soon as Alreco’s raw material shed has been emptied and Alcoa’s current salt cake stockpile is processed. A conservative estimate is that landfill production will commence in the last quarter of this calendar year

...

US Operations Update

The design and costing of MHM’s first US aluminium waste recycling facility is now being independently verified. MHM is investigating the suitability of a crystalliser technology to allow separation of salt from potash, which will increase the combined value of the salts recovered. The separation of these would enable the company to either sell each product as a separate commodity, or as a blend, which has commercial advantages. An initial capital budget for the US project has been prepared to more accurately estimate costs and assist with the project’s earnings calculations.

...

Silica Division Update

MHM’s Silica Division has seen substantial progress in June with Executive Director Simon Wells advancing key contractual negotiations. There has been considerable interest from a number of multinational companies for off-take agreements for silicon metal produced by a Tasmanian silicon smelter. MHM has received sufficient interest from large users of silicon metal to advance investigations in how to best capitalise on its current assets. Consequently further work is occurring assessing the viability of a silicon division spin off from MHM. Given the potential size of the projects under development, MHM is focussed on bringing the silicon division to the stage where it can be independently funded. MHM is exploring funding mechanisms that are non-dilutionary but enable shareholders to participate in the future earnings of these potentially large projects.

...

Link

June Top40 2012

2012-07-02T11:41:00.000+10:00

MHM Signs Major US Supply Agreement

2012-06-25T09:34:00.000+10:00

ASX Release – 25 June 2012

MHM Signs Major US Supply Agreement

MHM secures its fourth United States salt cake/black dross supply contract and the most important contract so far
Coordinated public relations campaign expected to introduce MHM to significant number and variety of new investors
New contract demonstrates that industry is continuing to embrace MHM's initiative
Continuing engagement with other US aluminium companies with a view to securing additional contracts

MHM Metals Limited (ASX:MHM) has signed a major US agreement for the supply of feedstock to MHM’s planned salt cake and black dross recycling facility in Russellville, Kentucky.

This is MHM’s fourth and most important US supply agreement. MHM continues to engage with additional producers of salt cake and black dross in its goal to secure further supply contracts for what is expected to be the first of a number of processing facilities in the US. The first facility, to be built in Russellville, Kentucky will be the only closed-loop salt cake and black dross recycling facility in the US. MHM’s processing activities provide a cost competitive alternative to landfill, and provide the industry with an exciting opportunity to cease landfilling these products and adopt MHM’s process as industry best practice.

This fourth contract has been structured for an initial 12 month term. The parties will work on a cooperative and transparent basis to share the recoveries of aluminium, salt/potash flux and aluminium oxides from MHM’s recycling process. These recoveries during the initial 12 months are intended to form the basis of a longer-term agreement between the companies.

Other contract information cannot be disclosed for commercial reasons.

The parties are working on a coordinated public relations campaign and until the campaign begins the identity of the counterparty must remain confidential. The public relations campaign will begin with a joint announcement followed by a US-centric public relations campaign. Shareholders should be aware that the US entity is driving the timeframe. The public relations campaign is expected to introduce the MHM story to a significant number and variety of new investors.

The completion of this contract illustrates continued progression of MHM’s expansion into the US. This follows last week’s announcement of a ten-year offtake of AL80, MHM’s aluminium oxide product, from it’s Australian facility and a Letter of Intent to purchase all US-produced AL80 also.

Trading Halt

2012-06-22T12:11:00.000+10:00

21 June 2012

MHM METALS LIMITED - REQUEST FOR TRADING HALT

MHM Metals Limited (MHM or the Company) requests an immediate trading halt of its securities pursuant to Listing Rule 17.1

The company requests the trading halt pending completion of a major US supply contract.

Link

Refers to Investor presentation April 2012

Advanced contract discussions with Alcoa US.

AL80 Update

2012-06-16T14:19:00.000+10:00

ASX Release – 15 June 2012

First shipment of MHM's AL80 product receives final clearance from destination port customs authorities, and is en route to the end user
MHM and Bandfield have executed an AL80 supply contract for all Australian produced material
Second shipment of AL80 expected to depart Geelong by end June 2012
Letter of intent executed between MHM and Bandfield for the offtake of all AL80 produced in the United States
Both contracts provide that Bandfield can only secure AL80 and aluminium oxide based products from MHM or subsidiaries

The development of high volume markets for the offtake of AL80 by MHM is of major significance to the global secondary aluminium industry. Finding commercial uses for aluminium oxide has been the largest inhibitor to economic recycling of salt cake and black dross.

Link

May top40 2012

2012-06-01T10:39:00.000+10:00

March quarterly 2012

2012-05-01T23:57:00.002+10:00

CORPORATE

$4.3m cash on hand
Positive feedback from US and UK investor roadshow

AUSTRALIAN ALUMINIUM OPERATION UPDATE

Gross Quarterly Cash Receipts of $1,012,764
Gross Quarterly Operating Cash Surplus of $12,237 with Trade Receivables of $1,261,849
3,647 tonnes of salt slag and non-salt slag, and 937 tonnes of dross received during the quarter
All salt cake and dross delivered to site is being recycled in a closed-loop process, with continuing reduction of stockpiled partly-processed salt cake
Production refinements being successfully implemented to address challenges caused by partly-processed salt cake, operations continuing during this process
First shipment of AL80 has departed following the engagement with Australia Bandfield Group

US ALUMINIUM OPERATION UPDATE

Plant design and assessment of capital cost at advanced stage, management believes final capex could be considerably below initial US$25m budget estimate
Targeted earning from first US plant US$25m per annum when operating at full capacity

SILICA PROJECT UPDATE

Continued progress re supply contracts to underwrite Tasmanian silicon smelter proposal
Engagement of corporate advisors regarding silica division spin-off

...more

April top40 2012

2012-05-01T10:53:00.000+10:00

March2012 top40

2012-04-02T17:55:00.001+10:00