Arafura Rare Earths Limited

Okay. Good morning, everyone, and thank you again for joining us for today's update. I'm Daryl Kazuba, Arafura's Managing Director, and with me today is Peter Sherrington, who's been our CFO, and Tony Vanderbilt, our Chief Project Officer. I'd also like to give a warm welcome to our new CFO, Angela Bigg, who started in the role just a few days ago. A little bit about Angela. Angela brings more than 20 years of experience in the global mining sector across both the Association Officer of the Rio Tinto Diamond Mine in Canada. This mix of multi-jurisdictional corporate finance experience and hands-on operational leadership gives her a really unique perspective and puts her in a great position to help us take the company from construction through into operations. Can I just hand over to Angela for a bit of an introduction?

Thank you, Darrell, and good morning. I'm really excited to be starting with Arafura and be able to participate in a project of this nature and at this stage of its development. I also have a slightly unique perspective being in a developing territory myself and being able to be involved in something like this is something I'm really pleased about.

Thank you, Joanne. So let me walk you through what we've covered today. And as we've done in the previous updates, we'll go through a market overview and summary of what we've achieved over the past year. Peter will then provide you an update on the financials for the year, plus where we're at on financial close and off-takes. And Tommy will update you on construction progress. And before we open up for Q&A, I just want to take a moment to thank Peter, given that this will be his last year, he'll update with us. So let's start with the market overview. Looking back over the last 12 months, it's been a significant one. We've seen a sustained lift in pricing. NDPR started the year around, you know, US $62 a kilo, peaked at US $129, and currently it's around $107 a kilo. At the same time, the US and Japan introduced pricing laws of $110, and that actually Domestic Pricing, where it is basically staged range-bound between $100 and $120 a kilo, which really shows how effective these price scores have been. We've also seen two new independent and transparent pricing indices emerge over this period, being the Benchmark Minerals Intelligence and S&P Plus Index. This knows because China's domestic rates and trading volumes simply aren't disclosed, so it's greatly smaller policy instrument than a reliable market signal. A few other events that are worthy to call out from the past year. China added empty materials and USA Rare Earths, the two countries most directly backed by the US government to compete with Chinese supply, to its export control energy list back in June. China also effectively embargoed disposiums, G7 Leader Separation elevated rare earths from simply being an industrial input to being an economic security priority, with a real focus on standard-based markets, transparent supply chains, strategic stockpiling, and building China also added 14 EU entities to its export control list, meaning overseas organisations or individuals can now be penalised for supplying Chinese rare earth materials to anyone on that list. And looking ahead, it's worth remembering that the moratorium on export control for rare earths between China and the US expires on November the 10th. If I had to sum up the past year, there's been a lot of activity building out of the rest of the world's rare earth supply chain, but structurally, China is still very much in control, and that's not going to change quickly. It took China three decades to build that dominant. It's going to take more than a couple of years to establish a reliable, cost-effective alternative. Even though metallisation, separation, magnet manufacturing capacity might take two to three years to build out, you cannot turn on a new mine supply nearly that fast. It typically takes 18 years to find and win a new mine into commercial production. And that's exactly what makes Arafura's move into construction on the Molens off-site project the right strategy at the right time. It has taken us years of work to get into this position, and it's a genuinely advantageous one, both for us and the shareholders. I can now turn to what we've achieved over the last 12 months. It's been an incredibly busy but productive year. We've put together everything needed on off-taking funding to reach fees, all while competing for attention and support against a lot of other critical mineral projects around the world. And I'd argue that no other project globally is going to have more support than we have. We've secured off-takes into five countries has secured ECA covered debt from five countries, and we were the first project to receive equity from EFA, the second and the largest from the National Reconstruction Fund, and only the second in the world to receive equity from the German Normal Tourist Fund, with the first project being a project based in Germany. Let me run through some more specific highlights. In terms of government support, we were named one of two priority projects under the US-Australia Critical Minutes Framework Agreement announced by the Prime Minister Albanese and President Trump last October. As prior to that, we secured a US$300 million letter of support from US Exxon. In terms of off-takes, we secured an off-take with US-based Truxxas, the first on an independent transparent price index. We also received further support from the Australian government, becoming the first company to receive with a new critical mineral strategic reserve. And we achieved the buy-new-off-take term sheet with an Indian party, again on an independent transfer index. Our consistent push for an independent transfer pricing is really paying off. And it matters, because we want our investors to have confidence that pricing will reflect market-under-measles, just like it does for any other commodity. From an equity perspective, We raised over the required $900 million in equity with further support to be added to that from NRS, ESA and German Lawn Mature Funds. I do want to specifically call out Handpops who took a risk on us early and honestly we wouldn't be where we are today without them. It was on the back of all that we were able to make a final investment decision a few months ago in May. And just lastly on project readiness, we engaged Hatch with our and our EPCM contract at the end of last calendar year. We fully established our owner's team. We're very happy with the calibre that we've been able to attract. We signed a compensation deed with our passwords, which included him becoming an ARAFRA shareholder. We signed a Territory Benefits Plan with the Northern Territory Chief Minister. And we were nominated as the first significant project by the NC government. So looking back on the last four months, it's been an incredibly busy year. but an incredibly resilient one, as we take the cut from development into construction of what will be Australia's only earth oxide rare earths limited process plant. On that, Peter, I might hand over to you for your update.

Thanks, Daryl. I'd like to start by outlining our cash position and the replacements completed during the year. So during the year, the company raised over $930 million in three private placements and also shareholder purchase plans, including the second tranche of the May placement of $186 million that actually settled after the year end. At the year end, the company held cash and term deposits of $723 million, including the second tranche that settled in July. On a correct on the basis, the company would have held cash of greater than $900 million. As a shareholder and a CFO, I'm sympathetic to the impact of private placements and that these couple of ratings have been significant in securing the equity that's required to develop the MOLINS project. The RF Share team have been mindful of the size of the equity required to execute the MOLINS project and have been mindful to target raising funds on geopolitical events that have driven share price and also project development milestones. Just turning to the project financing, key project finance agreements including the common terms, the facility agreements in the credit and security deeds and other facility documentation are all extremely well advanced at a stage ready for execution with the lenders. All lenders' credit retrievals remain current. A small number of lenders require the company envisages these approvals will be completed later this month. Optite Span Priority, and during the period as Dale summarised in his opening, the company has announced two binding octate turn sheets during the year. Finally, Traxxas North America, for five of the tons being NPR, and in addition to that, 700 tons of DY and CB, which were our first heavy rare earth oxides that have been contracted. Following that, we breached a term sheet with an Indian group for an additional 500 tonnes of NDPR and also 7 tonnes per annum of DYTD. Tracys is a significant global trader of specialty minerals and America is pleased to extend this strategic relationship with Tracys through the Tracys North American office, alongside the existing agreement with Tracys Europe. The Indian government currently have a specific program running to bolster their processing of metallization and magnets within India to complement its growing automotive manufacturing. ARACURE engaged with numerous groups looking to participate in the Indian Rare Earths and their magnet programs and had been selected to look into collaborating with a group that believes is well-placed to play a key role and is aligned with ARACURE's objectives in relation to Rare Earths markets. The TRACSIS civilian counterparty term sheets have pricing mechanisms that are referenced to global seaborne index prices for NDPR sites. The introduction of the US and Japan ore prices placed greater focus on the new rare earth magnet feed price mechanisms, deviating from the conventional industry practice of referencing the China domestic price. RFU is working to incorporate the term pricing mechanisms into other off-paper raisins currently being negotiated, but this has been a significant outcome that we've worked hard to achieve. In addition to the Traxxas and Indian offtake, in May of this year, in 2026, ARCA announced that it would receive the non-binding letter of support from EFA, potentially support under critical minerals to be preserved. DAL has already discussed this, and of course, we continue to work in the Australian government with regards to the letter of support as it relates to potential 5-minute tons per annum of offtake support. I'll close out. by addressing strategic investments and contractual clause on project financing. In May 2026, the company and NRC executed long-form documentation in relation to the previously announced $200 million... Australian $200 million of convertible notes. Aricura will seek to draw down the convertible notes based on its capital expenditure profile after construction commences. In March 2026, our aquariums did the binding and subscription arrangements for a total of AUD$230 million with KFW on behalf of the German Raw Materials Fund and Export Finance Australia. The equity subscriptions comprise €50 million from the German Raw Materials Fund and US$100 million from the PFA. There's significant linkages between work streams for off-take project financing and these strategic investments, which creates some complexity. Companies targeting surplus of the ESA and German Reuteral Fund subscriptions to occur in October 2026, so this year, after contractual close for project financing. On execution of the project financing settlement of strategic equity, the NOLANS project would be fully funded. The company will be placed in a moving approach of execution. This is a pretty good milestone. I want to thank the finance with Merge for the hard work they've done in the background for the due diligence for Glenda's equity investments. And I'm sure the company has been ready to execute private placements at short notice as opportunities emerge. More recently, our efforts have turned to planning to ensure our business systems and governments are appropriate for the next phase of construction, knowing that whilst the funding work streams have been tense, the next phase of project execution and then operations will bring new challenges, which we are now preparing for. I'll now pass to Tommy, who will talk project execution.

Thank you, Peter. The top three priorities for the NOLA has been getting the right people in the right roles, doing the right work, focus on project execution readiness, and ramping up the procurement process to be ready for execution after the FID announcement. Now, reporting back on each of these priorities, we are happy to share that all roles in a highly capable LCR audience team have now been full, and the HASH EPCN team has all the required key resources in place. The focus of the team has been and remains on refining the project execution plan and setting up for execution readiness as we head into construction. And thirdly, the procurement process has been ramped up effectively and the team is executing the procurement strategy as planned. That covers the last quarter, but looking to key milestones achieved towards project execution readiness. Now, the project is progressing commercial engagement with an expression of interest process being implemented through the Northern Territory Industry Capability Network, or ICM. This is aimed at extending the project commercial reach and ensures suppliers and contractors have visibility on upcoming packages. In support of this process and to encourage local business participation, an industry roadshow was undertaken in Alice Springs, Dolan and Tufford. The roadshows were very well supported with hundreds of attendees from various organisations. Besides the re-establishment works, have been largely completed and is now ready for main construction to commence and this was done with no safety incidents. Health, safety, environment routines and site access processes have been implemented including the demarcation of culturally sensitive areas. So then moving on to looking forward to project activities over the next 9 to 12 month period ahead The Stuart Highway Turn-Off Work Package is planned for the end of Q1 for the full year 27 and this scope completes works undertaken previously and is critical to public and project traffic safety at the intersection. Then drainage works and establishment of temporary site offices is planned for Q2 in full year 2027 of full year 27. Modellisation of the batch plant is planned for around the end of Q4 for the full year 27 with a start through Q1 full year 28 with concrete works to follow right after that. In summary, as we get into construction, we continue to do the work and implement the systems to ensure we best position the company to safely execute the notice project, and of course, with the best commercial outcome for the business in mind. I now hand back to Darrell to close.

Thanks, Tommy. Look, just one thing I really wanted to point out. Tommy just referred to the two highway access work. that actually is the start of construction. When we announced feedback in May, we said we would start construction in September, and Dave's Access Works will start in the next couple of weeks, and he'll be starting construction proper literally in a couple of weeks' time, so it's an exciting time for us. But before we open up to Q&A, I did want to take a moment to publicly thank Peter for his leadership and impact over the last 18 years at Arifura. No one has put in more sustained effort or leadership to get us to where we are today than Peter Hayes. I was reflecting on this recently. If you think about it, there's a reason other Rare Earths projects don't even attempt to go all the way to oxide-stage processing. They see the funding challenge as too difficult. Peter at CFO took the challenge head-on, and it's because he did, despite more than a few no-fails along the way, that we're now in a genuinely unique position to take advantage of the urgent need to diversify supply chains. Just to put the scale of that challenge into perspective, if you include the completion support that Peter and his team have been able to secure, Peter and his team took on the job of raising around 10 times our market cap at the start of the process. I honestly can't think of any other company who has pulled that off. And it was his offtake led and the ECA debt strategy that made this possible. And it wasn't just a great strategy either. It took an enormous amount of effort. Peter and Jatita were often still in the office late on Friday evenings, still on weekends, and taking late-night courses the European lenders were not taking. We wouldn't be where we are today without Jatita. On behalf of the Arizona Board of Management team, we want to thank you, and we genuinely because, Penny, I think with that, I'll hand over to you to open up to Q&A.

Thank you.

Thank you. Go ahead, Darcy.

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Thank you, Garfield. Let me just start by a couple of questions. There are quite a few coming through on the webcast. What I'll do is probably summarise them, Daryl, for yourself and for participants. So I guess we have commented on the actual physical start date. Can you provide some more clarification in terms of some of the major works and when they will be starting?

Yeah, sure, please. and the start of construction is proper. So first of all, you've already re-established the site. So you've spent a bit of money on getting your site ready and most of that work has been completed. The access work that allows, if you like, the broader construction activity to commence will start in about two weeks' time. The next large contract in the middle of next quarter. And we really want to get our bulk growth works done by the middle of next year, which is going to allow us concrete works to start. So it's kind of like a high-level critical path for the next six months.

Thank you. This one's probably best directed towards Peter. Peter from Peter Collis, can you please... tell us the NOLA's expected annual DYTB output and what percentage of that is currently locked into funding off-take agreements and what is the plan for selling the remainder? And then a follow-on question from that, can you advise if the pricing for these contracts are index priced or if there are any floor mechanisms involved?

roughly about 40 tonnes of DYTB that we recovered through the processing. So it's a part of the St Peggy Rare Earth product. So it's always been part of the product stream. It's contained within that. So in terms of, we've already contracted 15 sums or thereabouts with TRAXIS North America and also with the Indian counterparty. In terms of placing the rest of the product, we probably are looking to try and match the DY&CB with the customers who require the NDPR to go with it. So the DY&CB is critical to the manufacturer of magnets that are operating in high temperature environments, so high performance environments, so they don't lose their coercivity at higher temperatures. So these condominium UV automakers will have a requirement for those products. In terms of pricing of those products, we would be unlikely to put a floor in, but we do have different pricing methods. You know, in terms of some instances we will negotiate an annual price. We believe that demand will be significant and supply will be tight for some period of time. And in some instances where the customer wants a pricing mechanism, we will look into price accordingly given that there will be tightness in the marketplace. But I'm just not going to disclose what those pricing regimes are, they're commercial in confidence.

and perhaps as a follow-on to that question, and this is probably perhaps Daryl or Tommy, can you just elaborate on the studies that are underway to either increase the recoveries of heavies and or separate heavies further?

Yes, maybe let me make one comment and Tommy can talk to the little details. and we did tell this right in our quarterly previously. So we are looking at a separate project to process additional pennies. So one, recover additional pennies from the ray stream. As Peter mentioned, 40 tonnes of EYTB, that will take it to 50, 55 tonnes and also processing it to a separate which we will obviously come to market with at a later point. Tommy, did you want to make any additional comments to that?

No, that's perfectly accurate.

So another question, just in regards to the auto oxide process, and once you've made a hole in the ground, From what this shareholder has read, the refining process in China is highly collusive. Can you please outline how the process will be conducted more safely in Australia?

Yeah, so let me answer that and then Peter's going to pick it up and jump in. So firstly, you can imagine with our nine lenders, five countries, we have to meet all the different international standards. So you can process Rare Earths in a very environmentally responsible way. In fact, if you look at, you know, Linus, you know, they're doing that. You look at the process, it's very similar to hypernet problem extraction processes that you see a little bit there. So you can absolutely apply international environmental standards to what we're doing, and we are... We are doing that and we need to do that to satisfy our lenders' requirements. And everything that we do meets the different international and Australian engineering standards as well. Peter or Tony, do you want to make any additional comments on that?

I suppose for the Nolans Auto Oxide, one of the key degrees with other processes is that all of the waste materials handle what's in the site. which perhaps is different projects to different things. In China, a lot of processing is done at separate sites, which means waste is dealt with in different locations, whereas all houses under one single residue storage facility are limited with one regulator.

In addition to that, the environmental impacts, similar to any sort of safety is one of the best in the world. It's one of the best in the world. It's one of the best

Okay, so if we move along to the indicative timetable, can you please just provide some guidance in terms of how long after commencement of construction until you have product to sell, and then what is the period of time until we actually reach like a mechanical completion? Is that something you can provide guidance on?

Yeah, so let me make some comments and then you jump in, right? We have a 37-month construction schedule from the start of construction in a couple of weeks' time. To do the math on that, we expect practical completion towards the end of 2029, at which point we will move into commissioning and ramp-up, which we're forecasting to be a two-year process. Now, from a funding perspective, it's been assumed it's a two-year process, but we are working to a two-year grant up. And I would see, if you like, production reaching a nameplate at the end of 31, early 32. But with first production at the end of 2029. Tommy, any additional comments to that?

No, Darryl, that is accurate.

Mm-hm.

OK. from one of our stakeholders, Andrew Bellard. Also, thank you for your many years of service. Very grateful for your contributions to the company. What you would like to understand as well is whether the debt will be finalised and warranted prior to your departure and also whether or not what the conditions are around the US government $300 million debt facility is something that is being pursued and will be executed as part of the full debt step.

Thank you for the recognition. In terms of the debt facilities, one of my main objectives is going to contractual clients at the time we leave. is critical to several of those strategic investments as well. So whilst contractual close is an important milestone, there are other important milestones along the way with the debt facilities, including first drawdown and financial close, but certainly that is a milestone that we're looking to wrap up in the period whilst we're at the issue. There was a second part to the question.

The U.S. debt and whether that is part of the total debt stack that is in place at the moment and whether or not that is something that is being looked at to close.

Yes, so we have $775 million of senior debt salutes which actually excludes the letter of support letter of intent from U.S. Exxon. The USFs and the facilities are not something that we consider as part of the senior debt facilities. It's an opportunity to be pursued perhaps alongside any project expansion, whether it be for a Senior Rare Earths or a Stage 2, because it's not part of that initial debt stack.

And can you comment on the Canadian facility and what that's tied to, with it being NCA financing, what services call arrangements?

Yeah, so, some of our procurement is Canadian-based in terms of engineering services. Some equipment packages are based there. There's quite a bit of connectivity to the Canadian market for some significant parts of the procurement project, yeah.

One other question that Andrew had, which I will address, it was a question as to the July quarterly. We had opted not to do an investor briefing as part of the July quarterly. The rationale behind that, Mr Bellard, was that we had both the EGM at the beginning of July, where we provided a significant material update in terms of progress, updated on FIB and constructions, and then we also had this call coming up at the end of four-year results. So we felt it would be a duplication essentially of information and perhaps we were better to spread that out over the key milestones. So I hope that answers your question there. Daryl, the share price performance hasn't met expectations. As a reflection of the performance, is that a reflection of the performance of the board, and then what are we doing as a company to improve the share price going forward?

Yeah, good question. So, firstly, you're not alone on that. I mean, it's a bit of a crazy situation, right? If you look at the amount of cash that we have on the balance sheet, that is not much different to our market cap. So, talking to an investor recently in using his words, he's invested in our group and I'm having a free option. So if you take a broader look, you look at other rare earths projects, they've also pulled back to some of the, if you like, the tensions come off the rare earth sector. I think we've seen, if you like, the impact of that. If I talk to what's in our control, and there's two things in particular, So firstly, we continue to get in front of investors and say, hey, we can bypass China and we're the only project that can, that is infrastructure. Look across the globe, we are very well positioned, uniquely positioned to be an alternative to China and there's not a lot of competition in that space. So we continue to make that position. There will no doubt be a catalyst at some point is traditionally kind of invested, that we will see a relay to, and I'd like to think it'll be a little bit stickier, given that work. But the second thing that we have to do is we're now in construction, and we need to deliver our milestones in construction. I mean, you look at the Indian, right? They've been in construction, they're building on their milestones, and you look at their share price. So there are two things. One is continue to remind the markets and we are uniquely sufficient. And the second thing is delivering on our construction milestones.

The next question is in regards to the boards. You wouldn't mind answering on behalf of the boards. I just want to understand if the composition now, we have the right people to successfully deliver the Nolans project and to support the executive team in the delivery of that project. Working hard, I think quite a few of the members do have connections with other mining companies. Perhaps you can elaborate on that.

Yeah, sure. So the last two years, we have very, very deliberately made sure that we've now got a management team that's got execution capabilities, the construction team, and we've got both operational and large project experiences and we've brought on Ian Murray who has not just deep financial expertise, but he's been a CEO and he's taken a company from, you know, a relatively junior into a significant place. So we've been very deliberate at building out both the board and the management team. Every year we refresh our school set and always assess it. But I think we're very well positioned from both the board

Okay. In terms of index rebalance, obviously Arafura is part of the S&P 300 and MSCI indexes. Can you please provide a bit more information in regards to the specific initiatives and capital market communication plans that are in place to be able to, with the aim of protecting and safeguarding our standing in these benchmarks?

Yes, probably a little bit to what I've said already, and then Peter and Penny will jump in. So we continue, as I mentioned earlier, to get in front of investors both in the Australia-Asia market, and particularly in the US-North America market, and now that we to talk to them about how the rare earth supply chain is being built out. This is quite a new supply chain. It's not really understood and how we really do provide an alternative to China and continue to up that mark on how we're progressing into construction and ultimately to operation to be an alternative to China. You know, at the end of the day, you know, we also point out, you look at our market cap 1.2 billion. Linus is another class with market cap. Our production level isn't that distinctly different to theirs as we go into production, but we've got a very difference, a significant difference in market valuation. So as you push through the project edition, you'd like to think we're seeing a significant re-raising. Peter or Penny, do you have any additional comments to make on that?

I might just add that we do recognise that sort of broader and deeper research coverage is incredibly important in supporting that institutional awareness, and in particular liquidity. One thing to call out, I think, is that Aragira itself operates in an incredibly complex and specialised sector. So it's a large and integrated project. It does mean we need significant level of analyst understanding and modelling. So Rare Earths, given where it has been historically, has had a very niche coverage or limited coverage, and particularly as we speak with a number of our research analysts and brokerages, they are getting themselves up to speed at the same time in what has been a very opaque market in terms of pricing, barriers to entry, So being able to make some assumptions, which a lot of this is based on assumptions for the brokers and their research. made some valid assumptions going forward as to what the market and expectations on pricing is incredibly critical. So there's a fair bit of market understanding, access to management, creating that transparency or providing that transparency and then most importantly then us being able to demonstrate through our actions and on our milestones. So I think there is an engagement program that we have in place, which includes the institutional meetings, ECM engagement, analyst briefings, and then we have very specific targeted outreach. So this is a, it is a bit of a grind, but it is a work that is in progress and we are giving ample time to it. So that's Angela. Do you want to add something? It's probably just everything is that, you know, we've got two components. One is the work that Penny described, but

As we move into construction, it's really important to demonstrate that you're a credible organisation that delivers what we say we're going to do when we're going to do it. And that changing our reporting cycle to the mindset, I think, will only strengthen our position.

I think one of the things to recognise is there's a lot of work that goes in now for things that might create opportunities down the track. So some funds will have different investment providers. as we get close to the completion of construction and close to the learnings, different groups will be able to look at us and we'll keep looking at that. So there's a lot of work that goes on now to bring those groups in so it'll be a brief when you hit those milestones.

Perfect. Thank you. Following fit, So just to be clear, there are a couple of questions in here as well that when you bid. We have called bid that did occur on the 23rd of May with a financial investment decision being made. But can you please elaborate on any remaining conditions to be satisfied to achieve financial close and that same debt drawdown? And then if there's any remaining off-take conditions.

So I think in terms of milestones, the next critical milestones are contractual close, so closing out those couple of final credit approvals that are required for contractual close. Most lenders are complete and ready to go. The whole group have to be ready to execute and then the settlement of those contractual and those strategic investments from the EFA and the German Orbital Fund. I think they're probably the most critical milestones that we're working our way through to, or the construction to commence. Perfect.

I've got two questions from Mr Birch, and this probably relates to a podcast, our most recently running podcast. The total construction begins in September, yet your most recent podcast contains commentary suggesting that construction is delayed until next month. Can you just clarify? I think that might just be when it was recorded.

Yeah, that's right. For me, I did that podcast in August. So when I was referring to construction starting, it's construction starting. is expected to start in a couple of weeks, in September, which is when you said it would start, when you called fit in May. So Ian is on track.

OK. and I think sort of just the follow-on from that, sort of it has been a long time in the making. Obviously there was some pre-construction early works that were done in 2022, so four years in preparation for this final stage of construction. Should shareholders, how should shareholders think about the ability to maintain schedule and should we be expecting any delays or surprises?

Yeah, so Lee, a good point, so we did that earlier a few years ago, and that effectively caused... It de-risked our project execution at the start of the project. It probably pulled in the order of 69 months out of our schedule as well. So that's why we did it. I'm glad that we did that. Now, just a question around schedule going forward. We started a complex project in a relatively remote area, so there's absolutely project execution... and the question is what we're doing about how do we manage that risk. So as you mentioned previously, we took the four months since feeding the start of construction to go through competitive tender processes to make sure we're getting the best possible pricing for the work. We've ramped up the team to manage project both at the owners' team and also in the EPCM. A lot of work has gone into what's called a project execution plan to, again, de-risk, if you like, the schedule. And we've still got a lot of work to do around making sure that we can attract the right people, retain them, develop more turnover in people. And from a logistics perspective, logistics is evident in most of the projects. on time and hence on budget, you need to be managing logistics closely. So I would say we understand the project execution risk of a project of this scale in the Plexiglas and you're managing the sort of reasons, if you like, to manage that sort of risk.

Thank you. I'm just trying to... to combine a couple of questions here. Questions regarding any potential future capital raisings and dilution going forward. Are there any expectations that further capital will be required?

Yeah, so right now, right, so we're fully funded. We're focused on construction, so there's no, if you like, work on any capital raises, et cetera, et cetera. So... are right now fully funded and focusing on BBC.

The only report refers to potential capital cost reductions of more than 5%. Can you give us a bit more guidance on how these have been identified and whether these opportunities have converted into contracts or closed trading? How should we think about those?

Yeah, so actually I should have mentioned that earlier. It's a good question. Let me make a couple of comments before you jump in, right? So Lee asked a really good question around the project execution risk, right? And there's things that you can absolutely control. And one of the things is, you know, we are in an inflationary environment. There's not much we can do about that. But what we can do is, you know, how do we offset that sort of inflationary environment? And Tom and his team came up with an amount of $200 million of potential savings on the project. We've been looking at that for very close to two years now. That includes, you know, reducing some of the footprint, changing the pipe wrap configuration, changing how we do concrete works. There's quite a range of... and that was done as a way to, as you move forward, as a way to offset the inevitable cap expression. Tommy, do you have anything else to add to that?

No, it's exactly what has been happening and we continue to do that is the main point. We continue to optimise our design additional opportunities to make sidings that really move the needle for the project.

It's a good work there, not just lowering up front capex, but also just the environmental impacts as well, from both the capex and environmental perspective and an off-ex perspective. So some really good work has been done by the project team with Hutch in this.

Just in regards to your comments about establishing a Christ index for NDPR, which would clearly be beneficial for the industry, can you tell me if there's any active discussions or work underway on this, or is it more so conceptual? If you can elaborate on that, Daryl, please.

Yes, I would say it's no longer conceptual, but the job's not done. So, you know, we now have two indices, one being reported, one to be reported. and you've got to call out the US for their leadership in supporting the benchmarking of this culture. So we now have an index, and we have been getting off-takes onto that index. And again, thank you for the US. We've got US track sets onto this index. and we've got this Indian party that people refer to on this index and we are advocating getting our law passed onto this index. The work that still has to happen though is that other producers, other projects and consumers need to continually move bonds onto this index. This index needs to be independent and transparent. needs to become the primary index. And the only way that happens is by having other projects, producers and consumers, customers, giving their volumes off that index. There's still work to do, but I think we're making a great headway.

We have a couple, obviously, with the rates and capital ratings. We have, I say, a few new shareholders on our register, a lot of which are retail as well. Can you just provide for some of these channels? I've got a couple of questions in this vein. Can you please differentiate the auto-oxide strategy that Arafura have adopted. The reason why I am sort of elaborating on this is probably because some questions have asked whether our concentrate will go to Iluca or Linus or other parties for processing. So perhaps if you can just touch on again, just for the benefit of those listening, the fully integrated single-site auto-oxide strategy that sort of is exclusive of other

So this is, I mean, this really goes to the heart of what differentiates us. If you look at pretty much across the globe, we are the only project with all the oxide in construction. Why is this all the oxide important? And there's really three reasons for that. So most Rare Earths projects, they go to the concentrate. one step further and process to an oxide. We do that for three reasons. Firstly, if you really want your price to go to any company in any country and hence bypass China, you've got to go to an oxide. So you're not dependent on China. So we've taken that strategy. And because of that, that is why we've got so much multi-government report for our project, more than any other rare earths project that I know of. But the second reason we've done it is Rare Earths is found with radionuclides and it's only when you go to oxide and you separate out the oxide that you also separate out the radionuclides. So what that means is everything that leaves our site is free from the radiation perspective. and transportation of that. So you're relying on another company in another country to be able to receive a product that's got radionuclides in it. And that is very, very limited. You've got very, very limited options. But the third reason is if everything is done, and I think Peter alluded to this earlier, if everything is done on the one site. So as Peter said, you process it on the one site. You put the tailings back on the one site. There's no transportation. There's no transportation of intermediate price. You compare it to a processing hub such as a leaker. You've got fairly low cost mine supply at the door of the process plant. So we've got a very structurally, if you like, advantageous Cost Division 1, because they're all on the one side, but technically it's because we are a phosphate-hosted orbo, which means we can generate phosphoric acid from the orbo, which we use in the process, and we sell the excess as a bypass credit. So with all of that, we end up going from what would otherwise have been the middle of the global cost curve down the bottom of the cost curve.

You know, that was quite thorough. Any thoughts on Elon Musk's recent comments about one billion robots by 2030? I think some other market observers had sort of said 2050 and late 30s.

So we can't bring it on, right? So let me add some colour to that. I mean, he knows what the forecast is, but what I can say is if you look at Rare Earths, it has got significant structural demand growth for at least three decades. Now, what other commodity can you say has demand growth for two decades? We've been saying consistently for the last five years or more that we expect demand growth to double in the next 10 years, and that has proven to be a very sound forecast. And if anything that we're seeing now is the take-up of EVs, is going to escalate. So, you know, China already sells more EVs and plug-in hybrids than conventional vehicles. And just last month in Australia, EVs and plug-in hybrids actually oversaw conventional vehicles. So this tipping... We're going through the tipping point. You can see EV sales are increasing. And the forecast on robotics, humanoid robotics, has continued, I think, to underestimate that demand growth. and this is significant because a typical humanoid robotic uses the same amount of Rare Earths as one ED. So you can see how robotics will ultimately be a much bigger consumer of Rare Earths than EDs. So I think it's not going to know what the forecast is but it all works very, very well for Rare Earths and if you look at Rare Earths from a substitution perspective, you know, in Indeed, if you want to go to a different type of non-Rare Earths Limited magnet rotor, the substitution price for Rare Earths is, you know, an order of magnitude more than what the Rare Earths pricing is today. So if you see the structural supply deficit hit, then you'd expect to see quite a significant shift in EPR pricing. which is why we want this index. This is why we want this index to attract market funding.

I think we have time for maybe two more questions before we do wrap up. One of our long-term shareholders has commented in regards to the cash, pro forma cash position of approximately $1.4 billion. This will be post all the capital raising of the outstanding equity subscription agreements in NRFC. So looking at where some of the underwriters of our recent transactions have got our price forecasts of 35 and 40 cents, how will management take real ownership of this share price discrepancy between current trading performance and if you look at a cashback, sort of where that variation is to the current trading price? I think before you... I think you've addressed quite a few of these aspects, Daryl. I think one thing I'd like to clarify is Our current cash position is at 30 during the cash position of $723 million in Australia, with $186 settling post that period. So from a cash value perspective, we do have a slight equity value premium associated with the New Orleans project, but I think getting that realisation between where we are currently trading now and perhaps those price targets, how do we see that we can actually deliver that value and

I suppose the cashback value is probably about 0.14 or 0.15, I think. You know, we can debate what the number is. It's still not enough, I suppose. The point that should be made is that we recognise that, you know, we need to have more value ascribed to the enterprise rather than the cash position. And so we've got to work harder to get our message out to the market. I think part of the challenge has been the pullback, almost on a sector basis perhaps. We noticed when the June audit and the June financial statement for mines lodged that there was a pullback in their share price, probably recognition that prices were high, so people were waiting to see how those results looked, and then probably perhaps money So that's some observation, some excuse. We've got to work harder to ascribe more value to the project.

Quite a few more questions have come through, loads that we haven't been asked to answer now. We will come back through and provide some responses. I think just a couple more, Peter, and I will call them out again. We've got experts from Germany, automotive experts, and a couple others just wishing you the very best for your future and, again, expressing their gratitude for all the work that has been done up to date. So, again, from quite a few of our shareholders here, many thanks to you.

Thanks, everyone. Thanks for those. And then Dale for the kind comments at the start. Appreciate that. Thank you.

Sarah, I might just hand back to you to wrap up.

No worries. Thanks, Penny. And look, thanks again, everyone, for your time and your questions today. We really are an exciting defining point for the company, and I look forward to, with the team, giving you a further update of our upcoming AGM as we move rapidly into construction. Thanks again, and until then, stay safe.