Asian Metal visits Less Common Metals

On Monday April 15th, 2013, Melvin Hill, Manager of Asian Metal’s UK office, travelled to Less Common Metals’ (LCM) production facilities in Ellesmere Port to meet with Ian Higgins, the Managing Director of Less Common Metals. Acquired by the Canadian junior mining company Great Western Minerals Group in mid-2008, Less Common Metals is one of the world’s premier manufacturers of magnetic alloys and high purity rare metals. Following the start of production at GWMG’s flagship project, the Steenkampskraal project, GWMG, through LCM, hopes to realize the establishment of a vertically integrated supply chain for the production of rare earth based alloys for permanent magnet and other applications.

Upon arrival at LCM’s facilities, Melvin and Ian had a brief conversation about some of the recent RE market developments over a cup of coffee. Ian provided a detailed description of LCM’s history along with an account of his own experiences within various different sectors of the global rare earth industry. Both parties then discussed some of the major challenges facing the rest of world (ROW) players in the rare earth sector.

Ian elaborated upon the strategic importance of LCM’s merger with GWMG, noting that their previous vulnerability to raw material price fluctuations and supply availability had the potential to render them less competitive when compared to other China based magnetic alloy producers. While he went on to explain that most of their customers choose LCM due to a superior product quality, expert and experienced staff, along with the ability to consistently meet customized specification requirements for customers’ individual needs, he noted that concerns about continued access to critical raw materials (mainly rare earth metals) supply, had the potential to adversely impact existing business. He explained that the companies absorption into GWMG, the implementation of a “mine to market” strategy, and the development of a vertically integrated supply chain has helped to assuage these concerns.

After the completion of a quick safety course, Melvin joined Malcolm Dowell, the Production Manager at LCM, for a comprehensive tour of the production facilities. The tour began at the well equipped “wet” chemistry laboratory, where LCM’s expert lab technicians introduced the facility’s wide range of specialized sample analysis equipment and machinery, including ICP-OES and LECO instruments as well as highly specified optical microscopes. The tour then continued onto the floor of the production facilities, where the background and capabilities of the various vacuum induction melters, the new strip casting furnaces, along with LCM’s unique co-reduction process were all described in depth. The tour also covered the facility’s two electrolytic cells, which are used in the processing of rare earth oxides into metals and are an area of the current production facilities GWMG plans to substantially expand upon.

Melvin and Ian concluded the business visit with a brief discussion on the RE market’s current pricing trends. Both parties agreed prices are likely to slowly trend downwards in the short term, however, Ian was reluctant to place any specific predictions on exactly where the final resting price for his respective raw materials will lie.

While Ian, a former speaker at one of Asian Metal’s market defining rare earth conferences, lamented not being able to attend this year’s International Rare Earth Summit in NYC, he added that both GWMG and LCM would be aptly represented by his long-time colleague and veteran industry expert, David Murphy, the GWMG’s Vice President of International Marketing and Sales.