Most critical minerals projects are a bet on a single commodity. Osmond Resources (ASX: OSM) is betting that one deposit in southern Spain can carry rare earths, zirconium and titanium at the same time, and that revenue from the zircon and titanium covers the cost of the mine, leaving what Managing Director and CEO Anthony Hall calls rare earths for free. He joined Dustin Olsen to explain what has to be true for that claim to hold, why he thinks Brussels has been slower than Washington, and why he has started describing the endgame as mine to robot rather than mine to magnet.
A Spanish company that took over an Australian one
Hall describes himself as a generalist rather than a mining man, with legal, accounting and finance qualifications plus a company secretarial designation, and says he has spent more than 15 years running listed mining companies. Osmond is his third. The first two went from IPO into the ASX 300, and one of those had projects in Spain.
The structure is unusual for an ASX-listed explorer. As Hall puts it, Osmond is legitimately a Spanish company that took over an Australian one. Head office is Madrid, the project sits roughly three hours south in Jaén province at the top of Andalucía, and he says the company is currently looking at a secondary listing in Madrid, which he expects to become a bigger opportunity once the project's numbers are in the market.
What rare earths for free actually means
Osmond positions itself as a rare earth project, because rare earths are, in Hall's words, the most strategically important commodity globally given the geopolitical backdrop and the breadth of their uses. But the deposit also carries zircon and rutile, and he claims both at world-leading grades.
- Zircon: Hall says Osmond has the highest grade zircon project globally, with hafnium associated with the zircon also at the highest grade.
- Rutile: the best titanium mineral, and again he claims the highest grade rutile project globally.
- Monazite: the rare earth mineral, and the reason he can describe the rare earth stream as carried by the other two.
- Ilmenite and silica: additional revenue, with silica significant because silicon metal is itself one of the 17 EU strategic raw materials.
Hall does not walk through the arithmetic behind the claim. He asserts the outcome, and he does it twice: the three minerals together, he says, effectively enable Osmond to position itself as having rare earths for free, and Osmond will be the only project globally in that position. What would settle it is the mineral resource estimate and the scoping study, neither of which was in the market when this was recorded.
He is candid that the breadth is also a communications problem. Are they a zircon project, a magnet rare earth project, an yttrium project, a rutile project? He called the company a chameleon in that respect, and acknowledged that to some people the whole thing sounds too good to be true, which is why, in his view, the market is waiting for more meat on the bone.
Hall on what Europe extracts today
By Hall's account, the European Union at present extracts no rare earths, no titanium, no zirconium and no hafnium. The EU's Critical Raw Materials Act sets 2030 benchmarks for domestic supply of strategic raw materials, and designated strategic projects are supposed to receive a 27-month permitting timeline. In the episode Hall refers to the extraction benchmark as "that ten percent aspiration" and says Osmond can at least deliver it.
He counts three of the 17 EU strategic raw materials and five of the 34 critical raw materials in his own deposit. But he was direct about where the support is actually coming from, and it is not Brussels. He contrasted the EU with the US Department of Defense, which he described as actually stepping in, procuring what it needs globally and making a massive difference. Spain, meanwhile, has a 414 million euro critical minerals plan, recently backed a Chinese battery manufacturer with roughly 200 million euros split between subsidy and low-cost debt, and Andalucía has separately allocated funding for large infrastructure projects.
His explanation for EU paralysis is structural rather than political. Fund one member state's mine at, say, 250 million dollars of capex, and France asks where its 250 million is. Then Germany. Then Denmark. With 27 countries, supporting one over another is the hard part.
The Técnicas Reunidas partnership
Osmond signed a collaboration agreement in February with Técnicas Reunidas, the large Spanish EPC contractor that Hall says manages the European Commission's Horizon program work on insourcing a permanent magnet supply chain, from extraction through to recycling.
Hall was clear about what the deal is and is not. Osmond's mining study is built on producing a monazite concentrate, and he says the project doesn't need to go downstream of that concentrate to be attractive. What Técnicas Reunidas adds is an EPC route to convert that concentrate into rare earth oxides, both light and heavy, which gives Osmond a way to partner with downstream buyers rather than an obligation to build a refinery itself. He framed it as optionality on top of a project that already works.
Mine to magnet, or mine to robot?
The most unusual idea in the conversation is one Hall says he has been thinking about rather than executing. There is a lot of discussion in the US about mine to magnet, and he thinks much of it makes sense. But with titanium and zirconium alongside the rare earths, he has started asking whether the real integration target is humanoid robotics.
His reasoning: magnets for the joints, titanium metal powder and zirconium metal powder for the body. Osmond has two of the three key inputs, missing only lithium. He points to roughly 16 billion dollars invested into robotics in six months, says it is bigger than AI, and notes Tesla talking about a million robots a year and Chinese players moving to dominate the space. He does not suggest Osmond builds robots. The play he describes is partnering with a European robotics manufacturer that needs a supply chain nobody else has secured.
There is a defence angle in the same direction. Hall says Spanish defence forces have signalled an intent to lead Europe in drone manufacturing. Drones need rare earth permanent magnets, and they can use titanium metal powder. He says the industry currently prints with nickel-based powder and would switch to titanium at the same price.
Permitting is the whole risk
Asked what worries him most, Hall answered in one word: permitting. He said anything else would be disingenuous. It is hard to permit a mining project in the developed world, and without a permit the company has nothing.
He also laid out why he thinks Orión is a better permitting risk than most:
- It is an underground mine: no open cut, no visual impact, none of the airborne material issues that attract opposition.
- No surface footprint: enough of the extracted material is sold, including the silica, that after backfilling nothing remains on the surface. No tailings. Hall compared the regional footprint of the facility to an olive oil refinery.
- An existing environmental declaration: 86 pages, already in the public domain, with no community comments filed during consultation.
- A mining region: Hall points to Andalucía as Spain's mining province, naming Atalaya's Riotinto, Sandfire's Minas de Aguas Teñidas and First Quantum, and notes there is a former lead mine inside Osmond's own permit area.
His read on current market pricing is blunt. He described people as effectively making a 20-to-1 bet on the permit, and called the discount on Osmond crazy. If the Junta de Andalucía grants the project state significance and fast-tracks it, in his words, that is the point at which the company wins, because it has demonstrated it can permit the project.
Key Takeaways
- The core claim is co-product economics, not grade alone: zircon and titanium revenue is meant to carry the operation so the rare earth stream costs nothing extra to produce.
- Hall describes the European shortfall as total, not partial: on his account no rare earths, titanium, zirconium or hafnium are extracted in the EU today.
- National money moves faster than EU money: the 414 million euro Spanish plan and Andalusian infrastructure funding matter more to Osmond than anything coming out of Brussels.
- Downstream is optionality, not obligation: the Técnicas Reunidas agreement gives Osmond a route to rare earth oxides without requiring it to build a refinery.
- Permitting is the binary: Hall names it as the single risk, and points to the underground design and zero surface tailings as why he thinks the odds are better than the market assumes.
FAQs
What is Osmond Resources?
Osmond Resources (ASX: OSM) is a critical minerals company with its head office in Madrid and a listing on the Australian Securities Exchange. Its flagship asset is the Orión project in Jaén province, Andalucía, southern Spain, which contains monazite (rare earths), zircon (zirconium and hafnium) and rutile and ilmenite (titanium). Hall says the company has 11 employees in Spain plus two executive directors and a third employee in Australia, and works largely through Spanish consultants and contractors.
What does it mean to get rare earths for free?
It is Anthony Hall's claim, and in the episode he asserts the outcome rather than working through the arithmetic: Osmond, he says, will be the only project globally to have rare earths for free. The implied mechanism is that revenue from the other minerals in the same rock, meaning zircon, titanium minerals and silica, covers the cost of mining and processing, so the monazite concentrate carrying the rare earths costs nothing extra to produce. Whether that holds depends on grades, recoveries and costs that Osmond's mineral resource estimate and scoping study had not put in the market at the time of recording.
Does the EU produce any rare earths today?
Hall says the EU extracts no rare earths, no titanium, no zirconium and no hafnium. He notes there are three rare earth producers inside the bloc, two in France and one in Estonia, and says plainly that he does not know how they will source the mixed rare earth carbonate feedstock they need. The EU's Critical Raw Materials Act sets 2030 benchmarks for domestic supply of strategic raw materials; Hall refers to the extraction benchmark as a ten percent aspiration and says Osmond can at least deliver it.
What is the mine-to-robot strategy?
It is an extension of the mine-to-magnet idea. Humanoid robots need rare earth permanent magnets for their joints and lightweight metal powders for their bodies. Osmond's deposit carries rare earths, titanium and zirconium, which Hall says covers two of the three main material inputs. Rather than manufacturing robots, he describes partnering with European robotics companies that need a secure supply chain. He cites roughly 16 billion dollars invested into robotics over six months as the reason the opportunity is real.
What is the biggest risk to the project?
Permitting. Hall named it directly as the thing that worries him and said the company has nothing without a permit. He argues Osmond is a better permitting risk than most projects because Orión is an underground mine with no open cut, produces no surface tailings after backfill, already has an 86-page environmental declaration in the public domain that drew no community comments, and sits in what he calls Spain's mining province.
Transcript
Timestamps below are relative to the raw recording, not to the published video. Names and technical terms have been corrected from the automatic transcription.
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Dustin Olsen (01:23)
Hi Anthony, welcome to the show. How are you doing?
Anthony Hall (01:26)
Very well, how are you?
Dustin Olsen (01:28)
Good. We are excited to have you here, and also just to learn more about Osmond Resources and, we’ll say gold mine. I know that’s a phrase. It’s not a real gold mine, but it sounds like you’re sitting on quite the resource over in Spain. And so I’m excited to unpack this. But first, before we get there, I’d like to introduce you to our audience. Maybe you could just take a minute or two to talk about your background and how you arrived at Osmond Resources.
Anthony Hall (02:02)
So look, I have legal and accounting and finance qualifications, with a company secretarial designation as well. So I call myself more of a generalist, or a strategy guy, as opposed to a mining guy. I’ve been running listed mining companies for over 15 years. This is the third company that I’ve run, Osmond Resources. The first two went from effectively IPOs into the ASX 300, so they were quite successful. One of those had projects in Spain, one had a project in California, and this is the third one. So I’m the guy that effectively is running a Spanish company that is listed on the ASX. And I can sort of say that, not tongue in cheek, but I have lived in Spain, and I’m excited about the fact that we’re doing things slightly differently to a lot of pre-revenue businesses. We’re actually, legitimately, a Spanish company that took over an Australian company, and progressing what we consider to be a really exciting rare earths, titanium and zirconium project.
Dustin Olsen (03:11)
That sounds like a really impressive background, and it’s awesome, honestly a story we don’t hear often, a Spanish company taking over an Australian one. Because Australia’s, I think, known for being mining friendly. They’ve got a lot of mining companies over there. So I think that’s a great success story to have under your belt. That’s awesome.
Anthony Hall (03:34)
Well look, hopefully it’ll be more exciting when we start getting some traction with respect to the actual resource and the studies and some of the initiatives that we’re working on. So we are also looking at present at a secondary listing into Madrid. We have that ASX listing, which is a traditional mining bourse where you get the risk capital. But I think once we demonstrate the veracity of the project, Madrid is going to be a really big opportunity for us. So we’re pretty excited about pushing that forward as well.
Dustin Olsen (04:06)
That is exciting. So let’s talk about the project there in Madrid, in Spain. Where in the process are you right now? Sounds like you’re in the discovery phase and you’re pre-revenue, trying to get ready for construction. Is that correct?
Anthony Hall (04:28)
So in the first instance, the head office is Madrid, and the project is about three hours south of Madrid. So located at the top of Andalucía province, which is actually the mining province in Spain, which is a positive. Back in the 1950s and 1960s the project was effectively discovered, and there was a lot of work done assessing outcrops of the mineralisation in the fifties and sixties. We sort of picked up the project in 2019 when we started doing a little bit of work on those outcrops. So basically we’ve been running it for the best part of seven years, and in the process of, well, hopefully delivering some very exciting news, plus a mining application in the first half of next year, which is certainly the target.
Dustin Olsen (05:22)
Awesome. So a lot of these critical mineral projects usually bet themselves on just one commodity. There’s really just one main resource that they plan on pulling out of the ground. Can you talk about what you’re able to pull out? You’ve got three major ones that you’ve got your eyes set on. Can you talk about those?
Anthony Hall (05:48)
So for us, rare earths are the most strategically important commodity globally, because of the geopolitical backdrop and because of the breadth of uses of rare earths from a future-facing standpoint. Without rare earths, a lot of the economy doesn’t function. So we’re positioning ourselves as a rare earth project, but we also have zircon, and we actually think we have the highest grade zircon project globally. We also have rutile, which is the best titanium mineral, and we think we have the highest grade rutile project globally. And we have a little bit of ilmenite that’ll help with respect to the revenue stream. So the fact that we have the three amazing minerals, because our rare earth mineral is monazite, effectively enables us to position ourselves as having rare earths for free. Our view on it will be that we will be the only project globally to have rare earths for free. Which enables us to play the amazing geopolitical thematic attaching to rare earths. But then titanium and zirconium are arguably in the top five strategically important commodities as well. So it is an amazing opportunity that we have, with amazing tailwinds, and at the end of the day we’re just really lucky.
Dustin Olsen (07:09)
Yeah, I would say really lucky for sure. But that’s also incredible that you’ve got so much stacked into one place and you don’t have to, I guess, try too hard, might be a way to say that.
Anthony Hall (07:25)
Our challenge though is it does complicate the message. Are we a zircon project? Are we a magnet rare earth project? Are we an yttrium project? Are we a rutile project? So we’re sort of a chameleon in some respects. But you’re right, it’s just amazing, you talk about the highest grade projects globally and you have zircon highest grade, hafnium associated with the zircon highest grade, and rutile the highest grade. Everything else after that you would expect to look pretty good.
Dustin Olsen (08:04)
A hundred percent. And speaking of messaging, what are you telling people? Are they truly confused with what you guys are doing, or is there excitement, they’re like, wow, you guys actually have this stuff, we’ve been looking for it. What’s the reception to the messaging?
Anthony Hall (08:24)
I think in some respects it sounds too good to be true. So I think people are presently waiting a little bit just to see a little bit more meat on the bone. And I think when we get that meat on the bone, I think at present we represent an amazing risk-return equation. There are a lot of our peers in the rare earth and mineral sand space now that make us look very cheap, especially if we are correct that we have effectively a stream of rare earths for free.
Dustin Olsen (09:01)
I could see the hesitation. I don’t necessarily want to say skepticism, but I could see why people might want to hesitate and just wait and see a bit more of what you’re able to prove. So that’s exciting. So with what you guys are sitting on, and you’re in the EU, let’s talk about the EU law. They want to source and refine domestically. I think they want to source ten percent domestically and refine forty percent of what they source or process. So how does Osmond Resources fit into the EU’s goals by 2030?
Anthony Hall (09:49)
So at present the EU extracts no rare earths, no titanium, no zirconium, no hafnium. So we have a pretty good proposition that essentially says we can at least deliver that ten percent aspiration. In addition to that we have silica, because there’s a lot of silica associated with the seabed that we’re targeting, and silicon metal is one of the seventeen strategic raw materials in the EU as well. So we’re sort of sitting back, we’ve got three of the seventeen, we’ve got five of the thirty-four, and that’s under that EU Critical Raw Materials Act, with those aspirations. Under that act, a strategic project also has a twenty-seven month permitting timeline. So that gives us encouragement with respect to the permitting timeline. But the reality is we’re seeing a softening of that permitting framework at present, and the rhetoric and everything that is attaching to these types of critical mineral projects is suggesting that that’s going to be very conducive to what we’re looking to do.
Dustin Olsen (11:06)
That’s really good. So with a resource like this that seems to align really well with the EU and their initiatives, are they paying close attention to what you’re doing, and are they offering any sort of assistance to help you accelerate your efforts?
Anthony Hall (11:26)
So the big assistance that the EU’s talking about is that EU Critical Raw Materials Act and the twenty-seven month permitting timeline. The European Investment Bank is talking about project finance support. Our capex is going to be really low, so we’re probably not overly interested in running a project finance process. Spain, on the other hand, is looking to support these types of endeavours. They just supported a Chinese battery manufacturer to the tune of around two hundred million euros, half in the form of a subsidy, half in the form of low-cost debt. Spain has a critical minerals plan, and the critical minerals plan has allocated four hundred and fourteen million euros to support these types of projects. The Andalucía province, which is where we’re in, has actually allocated funding to support large infrastructure projects, and we would fall into that category as well. So the EU, I think, has been, trying to think of a nice way to say, not as functional as what they could have been. So it’s not like we’re sitting back and seeing what the US Department of Defense is doing in the US. They’re actually stepping in. They’re procuring what they need globally and they’re making a massive difference. The EU’s not doing that. The reality is that we’re pretty confident Spain will, and we’re confident that the province will as well. And that’s certainly where our focus is and should be. And notwithstanding the fact that we make a massive difference to the EU, we provide a massive opportunity for Spain.
Dustin Olsen (13:06)
That’s I think that’s a good reframing. Like, we’re interested in Spain, we want to help Spain, and I love that. Do you think the EU will ever see the light, so to speak, and maybe adopt what the US is doing right now in terms of procurement and incentivising companies? Is that some hope you have, or are you just like, nah, we’re just going to focus on what we can do here and now with where we’re at?
Anthony Hall (13:41)
I mean, we’ve heard rumblings that the EU is looking to become more aggressive with respect to supporting these types of projects. So we have heard that they are looking at how they provide more meaningful support than designating a project as strategic and then providing project finance support. The reality is the really good projects don’t really need project finance support. But the weaker projects actually probably aren’t going to get project finance support. They need more subsidy support than project finance support. They need a significantly larger cheque with respect to project finance than what the EIB is considering at present. So when we talk to people, the EU’s twenty-seven countries, and the challenge that they have is how do they support one country over another country? They come in and they pay for our capex of, say, two hundred fifty million US. I mean, we deliver an amazing result into Europe. But then France says, where’s my two-fifty US? And Germany says, where’s my two-fifty US? And Norway says, I’ve got a project as well, where’s my two-fifty, sorry, not Norway, Denmark says, where’s my two hundred fifty US? So it does complicate things. Which is certainly, we certainly want to engage with Brussels. We really want to demonstrate what an amazing project. Our partner with respect to downstream rare earths is Técnicas Reunidas, who’s a large Spanish EPC contractor. They are currently managing one of the EU programmes, under the Horizon programme, with respect to a permanent magnet supply chain. So they are the manager of that programme, which is looking at extraction the whole way through to recycling, and trying to bring in a permanent magnet supply chain to the EU. So there for us it makes sense, a lot of engagement with the EU, but our focus is Spain and Andalucía.
Dustin Olsen (15:38)
That makes a lot of sense. And when you say it just like you did, there’s 27 countries and how do you manage that, and expectations, and keep it equal and fair while also trying to deliver what’s truly needed to the resources that have more potential, yeah, I could see why some people might drag their feet. It sounds like a big complicated ball of mess.
Anthony Hall (16:03)
Yeah. But look, so Dustin, to give you some context. The Spanish Defence Forces have made references to looking at drone technology and wanting to lead Europe with respect to the manufacturing of drones. Okay, drones need titanium metal powder, sorry, they can use titanium metal powder, and they would use titanium metal powder if it was at the right price, and they need rare earth permanent magnets. So in both instances, we walk in and they’re looking at factories in Andalucía, and we essentially say, okay, we can essentially backwardly integrate drone manufacturing for Europe, driven by Spain, in an Andalusian context. So that has to be our focus. We may potentially make a massive difference for Spain in that EU context. There are three producers of rare earths in the EU, two in France, one in Estonia. I don’t know how they’re gonna get their material to continue the processing of rare earths. I don’t know how people are gonna provide MREC, which is what they’re looking at, mixed rare earth carbonates. So this becomes really interesting if Spain steps in the way we’re expecting them to step in, and that makes a massive difference, backwardly integrating a lot of Spanish production and initiatives into our project.
Dustin Olsen (17:39)
Absolutely. Speaking of things that make it more interesting, let’s shift gears just a little bit and let’s talk about the collaboration agreement that you signed with Técnicas Reunidas back in February. What does that optionality of this partnership deliver for you?
Anthony Hall (18:03)
So I’ve just commented how they’re running the European Commission’s programme with respect to insourcing the permanent magnet supply chain. In addition to that, they have now proven technology with respect to the production of rare earth oxides, so both light and heavy rare earth oxides. So for us we essentially have a Spanish downstream partner. Our initial study is focused on concentrates, because we’ve got such a strong project we don’t need refinery projects associated with the mine. But they give us a lot of optionality with respect to how we might partner with people looking for rare earth oxides for magnet production. Say, in Germany there’s magnet production. Without the rare earth oxides there is no German car manufacturing industry, because electric vehicles require permanent magnets. So that gives us a lot of downstream optionality, and we’re really excited about partnering with a major Spanish EPC contractor with the credentials and the capability and the European Commission positioning that Técnicas has.
Dustin Olsen (19:14)
That’s really exciting. So can you break it down for me, or explain just a little bit how this partnership works? Is Osmond Resources looking to be the mine-to-magnet solution with Técnicas helping you with that piece? Or is it like an offtake agreement where you ship your product to them and then they sell it through their channels?
Anthony Hall (19:45)
So Osmond’s mining study is going to be on essentially producing a monazite concentrate. It doesn’t need to go downstream past monazite concentrate to make the project look very, very exciting. What we are then looking at doing is saying, okay, we have control of a monazite concentrate at scale. And what do we do with the control of that monazite concentrate at scale? So Técnicas have come in and they’re essentially offering an EPC solution to construct facilities to take that monazite concentrate and to convert it into rare earth oxides. So they provide a mechanism for us then to partner with downstream participants that are looking for rare earth oxides into their initiatives. Now, we know there’s a lot of discussion in the US around mine to magnet. A lot of that discussion makes sense. We’ve actually even thought about mine to robot. And the reality there is, with the titanium and the zirconium and the scale that we have, scale is a really important determinant of success, we’re sort of thinking, do we actually play out the robot strategy and backwardly integrate ourselves into the best global titanium, zirconium and rare earth resource? Because we’ve got two of the three pretty cool inputs into robots. One being magnets for the joints, two being titanium metal powder, and zirconium metal powder we think is even better, or the combination of the two. And we don’t have lithium. But outside of that we’re looking pretty good for a mine-to-robot strategy.
Dustin Olsen (21:33)
And that would be one strategy I’ve yet to hear of in all the talk that’s been going on, mine to robot. So I’m really curious right now, I feel like I’ve got a lot of questions. So you’ve been thinking about it, you’ve been considering it. What would actually have to change, or have to happen, for you to effectively move into the robot space, backed by Osmond Resources and everything that you’re sitting on today? What does that look like?
Anthony Hall (22:08)
So why wouldn’t we go and partner with one of the European robot companies? There’s been sixteen billion dollars invested into robots in the past six months. It’s bigger than AI. You’ve got Tesla talking about a million robots a year really quickly. You’ve got the Chinese looking to dominate in that whole space. We have a supply chain solution that nobody else has. So I don’t think we necessarily look at doing it ourselves, but with the right partners, Osmond’s essentially part of a mine-to-robot proposition. Most of the magnets that are going to get produced in the US are going to go into robots, drones or robots, or maybe sell into missiles. But that’s where the magnets are going. So in our instance, we’ve got an amazing titanium and zirconium stream that gives us the body for the humanoid robots.
Dustin Olsen (23:08)
Yeah, I could see how that would be a really strong proposition for those types of partners. We’re actually seeing this a lot in the industry, at least with auto manufacturers, how they’re partnering upstream significantly, like at the mining level, to secure the resources that they need. So basically what I’m hearing, you’re doubling down on this idea of integrated partnerships all the way to the robot level, the actual product that all these resources go into. Which is really smart.
Anthony Hall (23:51)
We have a very definitive strategy where we’ve got to get a project into the market, we’ve got to demonstrate to people how robust that project is. And if we’re right, where we’re having free rare earths, then we’ve demonstrated how robust that project is. At that juncture, we’re the prettiest girl at the ball. And if we’re the prettiest girl at the ball, we have grade and scale. And with that scale, we’ve got to work out how we leverage that into maximising value for shareholders. Now, focus is on Spain, because we think there’s an amazing opportunity in Spain with the capability that sits in Spain, with the initiatives that the Spanish government are looking to progress in Andalucía, and the Ministry of Defence and the like. And we think there’s an amazing opportunity into broader Europe, and we also think there’s a massive opportunity into North America. The reality is the port of Bilbao is six days to the east coast of the US. We’re probably the closest source of titanium that the US has. Presently it’s getting its titanium from Australia and South Africa. And the scale that we have enables us to play that card out as well.
Dustin Olsen (25:07)
Yeah. The opportunity and the potential for that opportunity seems very palpable with what you’re describing, and that’s game changing in a lot of ways.
Anthony Hall (25:23)
Yeah. And remember, it’s all driven by the deposition style, this massive seabed, and it’s got crazy scale associated with it. And then when you overlay that with the highest grade zircon project globally, the highest grade rutile project globally, the highest grade hafnium project globally, you end up with an amazing position in that future-facing market where you can leverage that grade and scale into those future-facing opportunities. As I said, why wouldn’t we partner with a drone manufacturer in Spain, for argument’s sake? They need rare earths and they need a metal powder to print the drones. They’re currently using a nickel-based metal powder, and I guarantee you that they would take a titanium metal powder every day of the week, if it was the same price.
Dustin Olsen (26:17)
If it were the same price, how would price come down on titanium? Is it the lack of titanium? Is it the supply and demand?
Anthony Hall (26:28)
Titanium prices have been coming down a lot because of a lot of additional artisanal production in Africa. So titanium is under pressure, has been under pressure now for a while. Titanium metal powder presently is really a function of energy. So the cheaper the energy, the cheaper effectively the conversion from ilmenite into a titanium metal and back into a metal powder. We think we’ve got options to change that. And energy in Spain is not too bad. But if you’re essentially sitting at the mine mouth and you’ve got a stream of titanium, but really high grade, going into your metal powder facility, it does look pretty exciting.
Dustin Olsen (27:23)
Makes sense. Anthony, let’s talk about the company, Osmond Resources. How big is that? How many employees do you guys have?
Anthony Hall (27:35)
So we have eleven employees in Spain, and we have two executive directors and a third employee in Australia.
Dustin Olsen (27:45)
Okay. So pretty small. What does the near-term future look like as things really start to gain some traction? I assume you’re looking to grow, scale, are you seeking more funding still? Where does all that stand?
Anthony Hall (28:08)
I think that in the first instance we’ve taken an approach to be really lean, and to just use Spanish consultants and contractors to support our efforts. So the study that we’ve produced is primarily done by Spanish contractors. As opposed to being direct employees, we sort of figure it’s better to have them as contractors. In terms of next steps for us, we really need to see the market response in terms of what their view on the project is, with the study and the mineral resource estimate out. And then I think we’ve got to consider what partnership strategies look like. And I’d be surprised if we don’t have some knocks on the door with respect to partnering initiatives, once there’s sufficient visibility around the strength of the project and the scale of the project.
Dustin Olsen (29:08)
Makes sense. Sounds exciting. The potential with what you guys are doing is really awesome. How soon do you think things will start to take off? I know you’ve got a lot of things earmarked for the start of 2027. Is that kind of the starting gate, or do we have more runway to go?
Anthony Hall (29:38)
Look, I would like to think that from the start of October, things get pretty exciting. I think there’s going to be lots of things, we’ve told the market there’s lots of things we’re working on with respect to downstream initiatives. We’ve told the market that we’ve got amazing drilling results that are expected to be demonstrated by an amazing mineral resource estimate. I think, dropping out of where we sit at present, I think it’s going to be a pretty exciting three to six months for us. We’ve got additional drilling that we commence in October. That additional drilling will demonstrate significantly larger scale, we believe. So by, I don’t know, by March or April we could be talking about hundreds of millions of tonnes, potentially billions of tonnes. When you think about the grade that we have, the location that we have and the future-facing minerals that we have, our view on it is that there’s plenty of upside to come. And it’s up to us to get the strategy right and the positioning right. But it is complicated. I mean, this is not an easy story. It’s not like running a gold project where you’re going to produce gold at a thousand dollars an all-in sustaining cost. This has got so many moving pieces to it. It’s one of the strengths of the project, but it’s also potentially a negative of the project. As you said, nobody’s ever talked about mine to robot. We’re coming out with mine to robot. I mean, all that is, is complexity. Now the reality is if we find the right two or three partners in Europe, it’s done. All the right partners in the US. As I said, it’s not hard for us to get the titanium metal powder and magnets into the US, given our location.
Dustin Olsen (31:41)
Well said. So Anthony, as we come to the end of our time here, what’s something that keeps you up at night? You kind of alluded to it just a little bit, the strengths can also be its downfall. But aside from that, what keeps you up at night with this project?
Anthony Hall (32:01)
Permitting.
Dustin Olsen (32:05)
Everyone’s nemesis.
Anthony Hall (32:07)
If I was to say anything different, it would be disingenuous. The reality is it’s hard to get a mining project permitted in the developed world. Now, we think there’s lots of reasons why we will get permitted. We think there’s lots of reasons why it portends that we will get fast-tracked. But the reality is, without a permit, we don’t have anything. So at present I consider us to be an amazing risk-return equation. I think we look very cheap compared to our peers, given the strength of what we have. If we can do something though to change that permitting dialogue, with respect to what we’re calling project recognition, so the government, the Junta de Andalucía, comes and says you’re a project of state significance and as a result of that we’re going to fast-track all of those initiatives for you, at that point, I think we win, because we’ve demonstrated we can permit the project. But that is ultimately where our challenge sits at present. Essentially people are at present making, I think it’s a twenty-to-one bet on the permit. The discount we’re seeing on Osmond at present is crazy, but we’ll see how that plays out.
Dustin Olsen (33:34)
Yeah. Permitting is one of the biggest hurdles that you and others that we’ve talked to here on the show all face, and there seems to be no quick way around it either. It takes time and takes a lot of studies to arrive at that.
Anthony Hall (33:55)
One of the quick ways around it, in some respects, is the type of mine. So in our instance, it’s an underground mine. That’s a massive tick, because you don’t have an open cut. There’s no visual problems, there’s no issues associated with what happens with the material getting into the air and these types of things. So that’s a massive tick. Second big tick for us is we actually use sufficient of the material coming out of the ground that after we backfill, there’s nothing on the surface. Because silica is one of the seventeen strategic raw materials in the EU, we can sell that silica. And everything else we just backfill. So we don’t actually have a surface footprint with respect to tailings or with respect to mining. So it’s essentially a facility in our region. It’s basically like an olive oil refinery. So I do think that we have a lot of reasons why we can demonstrate that we’re a better permitting risk than other projects. But you’re right. At the end of the day everybody’s got a massive permitting risk, given the nature of mining in the twenty-first century in the developed world.
Dustin Olsen (35:19)
A hundred percent. And in Spain, what’s the general sentiment towards mining? And I want to contrast that against, we’ve talked with companies that are doing mining projects out of Brazil, and Brazil seems incredibly friendly. They’ve established like a pattern of sorts, that if you can just do these things you get all the way through and you can be into construction in just a matter of thirty-six months or less. Would you say Spain is taking the same approach, or have you got more hurdles than that?
Anthony Hall (36:03)
I mean, every jurisdiction is an amazing jurisdiction for mining permits if you’re running a company in that jurisdiction. Look, I do say that somewhat facetiously. There is the European Critical Raw Materials Act that says twenty-seven months for extraction projects. We already have a substantial body of work that’s been completed with respect to the environmental declaration that was made on the project already. So that’s 86 pages, it’s in the public domain, there were no community comments as part of the consultation. So we’re walking in in a pretty good place. And as I said, it’s an underground mine, and no surface tailings, and making a massive difference potentially to the economies of Andalucía, and also the specific region of Jaén that we’re in. So we have to rely on that twenty-seven months, and we have to rely on the fact that there’s already a massive body of work with respect to that environmental declaration. And then I think we have to rely on the fact that strange things have happened where there are projects in Spain that have been fast-tracked. We’re in the mining province, it’s where Atalaya’s Riotinto is, it’s where Sandfire’s Minas de Aguas Teñidas is, it’s where First Quantum is. So it’s the mining province. In so much so that on our permit area, there’s a former lead mine. So look, at the end of the day, I think we’re very circumspect with respect to permitting, but we’re also quietly confident that we may deliver a better result than anybody would expect.
Dustin Olsen (37:47)
Well, that’s awesome. And that also sounds like probably the best thing to end the show with, that you’re perfectly poised to surprise a lot of people. I think you guys will come out of the gate swinging and provide a tremendous resource for not only Spain but your global partners and allies. So that’s probably, couldn’t say it better myself.
Anthony Hall (38:19)
Well, thanks for the opportunity, Dustin. It’s nice to, we’ve been the best kept secret for a while, so we’re trying now to change that rhetoric.
Dustin Olsen (38:30)
A hundred percent. Well, we are glad that you came on the show to share that message with us. And hopefully we’ll have you on the show again after some time, get an update from you guys, see how things have progressed. I think that would be really exciting, to get an update on.
Anthony Hall (38:50)
Fantastic. No, thanks. That would be great.
Dustin Olsen (38:52)
Cool. Well Anthony, thanks again for being on the show and we’ll catch up with you soon.
Anthony Hall (38:58)
Brilliant. Thank you.
