Mid-December Top40

November Top20

September top40 2012

MHM top40

VOLUNTARY SUSPENSION

REQUEST FOR VOLUNTARY SUSPENSION

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

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

Strategic Review

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

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

August top20 2012

July 2012 top20

MHM

MHMO

MHM Appoints Phil Thick as Managing Director & CEO

MHM Appoints Phil Thick as Managing Director & CEO

ASX Release – 18 July 2012

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

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

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

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

changes have been implemented and are effective immediately.

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

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

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

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

technological development with Mr Thick bringing many years experience and a

successful track record to the Managing Director’s role.

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

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

Kentucky plant and potential corporate changes with our silica assets.

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

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

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

to Phil.”

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

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

financing for MHM’s US expansion.

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

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

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

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

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

successfully exported to Asia.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

November, or at any earlier meeting of shareholders.

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

engage with potential candidates.

Monthly Update

MHM progress report

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

Australian Operations Update

...

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

...

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

...

US Operations Update

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

...

Silica Division Update

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

...

Link

June Top40 2012

MHM Signs Major US Supply Agreement

ASX Release – 25 June 2012

MHM Signs Major US Supply Agreement

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

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

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

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

Other contract information cannot be disclosed for commercial reasons.

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

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

Trading Halt

21 June 2012


MHM METALS LIMITED - REQUEST FOR TRADING HALT

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

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


Link

Refers to Investor presentation April 2012

Advanced contract discussions with Alcoa US.

AL80 Update

 ASX Release – 15 June 2012 

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

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

Link

May top40 2012

March quarterly 2012

CORPORATE

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

AUSTRALIAN ALUMINIUM OPERATION UPDATE

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

US ALUMINIUM OPERATION UPDATE

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

SILICA PROJECT UPDATE

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

...more

-

April top40 2012

March2012 top40

Further Geelong Plant Performance Information

ASX Release – 2 April 2012


AUSTRALIAN SALT CAKE PROCESSING OPERATIONS

Following numerous shareholder inquiries relating to the  MHM Metals Limited
(ASX:MHM) update lodged on Friday, the company reaffirms that:

1. Alreco’s (MHM subsidiary) Geelong facility is successfully processing all
salt cake delivered to site and stockpiles are reducing. The technology is
working and daily throughputs continue to increase.

2. Processing challenges caused by  the partly processed material
generating larger volumes of gas than expected  will be addressed
through the implementation of production  refinements. The first stage
of this installation has already been completed and is in production
today. A report on its effectiveness of stage one will be forwarded to the
ASX in the near future.  During this process the plant will continue to
run as normal, processing all material delivered to site and reducing
current stockpiles of partly processed salt cake. It is expected that these
changes will not only allow increased production at the Geelong Plant
but will also result in reduced capital and operating costs for the US
Plant.

3. As  previously advised, when reprocessing the stockpile of partly
processed salt cake is completed, Alreco will commence processing
Alcoa’s 160,000 tonne salt cake landfill. When landfill processing
commences Alreco’s earnings are expected to increase to  the forecast
$8 million EBITDA  per  annum. Geelong plant EBITDA forecast remains
unchanged.

4. It is important that Shareholders remain mindful of the magnitude of MHM’s achievements to date.
The profitable production of AL80, MHM’s  aluminium oxide product, is a world-first and will have
significant implications for the global aluminium industry. Further, MHM’s salt cake processing
technology will revolutionise the US aluminium industry and bring change to long-standing practices
of landfilling salt cake.  This change will be driven by MHM, not increased regulation.

Company Update

ASX Release – 30 March 2012


• First shipment of AL80 has departed Geelong
• Closed-loop processing continuing, although throughput diminished
due to intricacies of re-treating partly-processed material
• Planned alterations to areas of the circuit to increase throughput,
reduce staffing and greatly simplify process
• Plant will continue operating during planned process changes
• Engineering and environmental permitting progressing very well in the
United States
• Rail spur final design and costing expected imminently
• Management soon to confirm capital cost and drawdown schedule
• Preliminary site works commenced
• US and UK roadshow completed, business case positively received


AUSTRALIAN ALUMINIUM OPERATIONS UPDATE


MHM Metals Limited (ASX:MHM) confirms the first shipment of AL80 has left
Alreco’s Geelong facility, just two weeks after signing a Letter of Intent with
Australia Bandfield Group. AL80 is an aluminium oxide product that results
from the closed-loop salt cake processing technology for which MHM has
exclusive, perpetual global rights.

Established in 1994, Bandfield has exposure to a range of businesses including
ship broking, export/sales of mineral and agricultural products and advisory
services in mining, port infrastructure and investment. Its business includes
advice and evaluation for Australian or Asian companies seeking joint venture
investments and shipping services for Australian companies for Asian markets.

Closed-loop processing continues in Geelong, although Alreco has struggled to reach full capacity due to
processing issues presented by re-processing the partly treated and stockpiled salt cake. The partly
processed material has been generating larger volumes of gases than anticipated, resulting in the need to
blend the stockpile material with the regular salt cake feedstock. Alreco had originally expected that the
partly processed material could be processed without blending, however due to the difficulties the material is
being blended on a ratio of one tonne for every three tonnes of unprocessed salt cake.

Whilst the stockpile of partly-processed material is being reduced, management has designed small changes
to the circuit to enable the plant to increase throughput, reduce staffing levels and greatly simplify the
process. The design will be tested over the next week, with results provided to the ASX. The plant will
continue operating during this period.


US ALUMINIUM OPERATIONS UPDATE


Preparations for building the US plant continue with engineering and environmental permitting activities well
underway. Rail spur design and costing is expected imminently, with the construction of the rail spur a high
priority to facilitate transfer of plant and equipment to the Russellville, Kentucky site.

Management is finalising final plant capital cost including independently verifying the costs, drawdowns and
timeframes for completion. This information will be released to the market when available.

Preliminary site works have commenced and are ongoing.
Assessment of project-financing options is underway and will be finalised when the plant capital cost and
drawdown schedule are confirmed. Management is confident that a number of options will be available. As
always, management wishes to minimise any shareholder dilution to maximise earnings per share and share
price.

A preliminary US and UK roadshow has been completed with positive feedback in every instance. The
purpose of the roadshow was to introduce potential new investors to MHM and generate more support for the
share price during in any market weakness or low news flow.

AL80 Update

ASX Release – 14 March 2012

• Supply contract with Impex Minerals Pty Ltd cancelled due to non-performance

•  Letter of Intent signed with Australia Bandfield Group for the supply of AL80 produced in Australia. 

MHM Metals Limited (ASX:MHM) has cancelled an exclusive supply 

contract with Impex Minerals Pty Ltd  for the offtake of AL80, 

MHM’s aluminium oxide product that is produced from salt cake 

recycling operations.

The contract has been cancelled following repeated nonperformance by 

Impex of key conditions precedent to the contract 

and repeated failure to deliver on timeframes.  On 23 February 

MHM announced that the first anticipated shipment date for AL80 

would be 5 March 2012.  This date was provided following written 

and verbal assurance by Impex that shipping would commence on 

this date.  Due to non-compliance by Impex, MHM has now cancelled 

the contract with Impex.

MHM has immediately proceeded with an alternative buyer of MHM’s 

AL80 product. MHM has signed a Letter of Intent with Australia Bandfield Group 

for the supply of all AL80 produced in Australia. 

Established in 1994, Bandfield has  exposure to  a range of 

businesses including ship broking, export and sales of mineral 

and agricultural products and advisory services in mining, port 

infrastructure and investment. The scope of  its business also 

includes advice and evaluation for Australian or Asian companies 

seeking joint venture  investments and providing shipping 

solutions for Australian companies seeking to reach Asian 

markets.

Preparations for the first shipment have already begun and 

Bandfield has advised that it will be delivering shipping 

containers to site within 10 days. 

The delay in shipment of AL80 is presently not impacting ongoing 

operations at MHM’s Geelong salt cake recycling facility.

February Top40 Lists

MHM

MHMO

MHM Company Update

MHM UPDATE

ASX Release – 23 February 2012

• 24-hour  processing  underway at Australian  salt cake recycling 

operations

• Current daily plant throughput processing all new material received, in 

addition to 35-40 bags per day of partly processed stockpiled salt cake 

• Daily throughput to increase as new staff gain additional experience

• Potential Alcoa shutdown of Point Henry Smelter would have no impact 

on MHM’s operations

• First AL80 export shipment of 500 tonnes scheduled for 5 March 2012

• Acquisition of  115-acre site for construction of first US salt cake and 

black dross recycling facility

• US plant design and layout complete, preliminary engineering and 

permitting underway

• Timeframes and capital cost of first US facility to be confirmed with US 

engineering consultants

• Preliminary site works commenced

• Additional US supply contract negotiations ongoing and positive

• Project finance favouring non-dilutionary mechanisms. New York 

roadshow commencing 28 February to increase investor awareness and 

on-market support 

AUSTRALIAN ALUMINIUM OPERATIONS UPDATE


Twenty-four hour processing is underway at  the  Geelong salt  cake recycling 
facility.  Current plant throughput is processing all salt cake being  received,  in 
addition to 35-40 bags per day of partly-processed stockpiled salt cake.  Each 
bag of stockpiled material weighs approximately 1.5 tonnes, and the 10,000 
tonne stockpile is expected to take about 3 months to process.  Current daily 
plant throughput is expected to increase as new employees continue to gain 
experience.    Updates of processing rates will be provided by the company.  


When reprocessing the stockpile of partly-processed salt cake is completed, Alreco (MHM’s subsidiary) will 
commence processing Alcoa’s 160,000 tonne salt cake landfill. When landfill processing commences Alreco’s 
earnings are expected to increase in line with the forecast EBITDA of $8 million per annum. 


The potential shut down of Alcoa’s Point Henry Smelter would have no impact on MHM.  All of Alcoa’s 
Australian salt cake is produced at the Yennora Rolling Mill in New South Wales.


Impex has advised that customs paperwork relating to export of AL80, Alreco’s aluminium oxide product, has 
been finalised and that the first shipment of 500 tonnes will depart the Geelong facility on 5 March 2012. The 
initial 500 tonne shipment was the initial volume agreed for shipment by customs, and this will ramp up to 
ensure that all Australian AL80 is exported.  


The completion of customs paperwork is a major achievement for MHM as considerable effort was devoted to 
achieve this goal. The delays were a bureaucratic matter and unrelated to the desire of the end user to 
purchase the product.  While Impex has exclusivity for AL80 only within Australia, it has expressed interest in 
also purchasing all AL80 produced in the US.  MHM has received expressions of interest from other 
companies about purchasing all US-produced AL80.



US ALUMINIUM OPERATIONS UPDATE


US subsidiary MHM Metals Corporation has acquired a 115-acre landholding in Russellville, Kentucky. The 
$838,000 purchase price was funded from existing cash reserves. The site contains existing buildings that 
will decrease the time and expense of plant construction and the site is zoned correctly for its purpose. 
Plant layout and design for the Russellville facility has now been completed and management is working with 
engineering consultants to confirm capital cost and timeframe for completion.  The existing buildings are 
ideally suited for the processing plant, and there is much enthusiasm  in  the  management  team  for  the 
property.  Environmental permitting applications are being prepared and preliminary civil site works, 
renovations of the office facilities and preparation for expedited construction of the rail spur are underway. 
MHM has a conservative preliminary budget estimate of US$25 million for construction of its 250,000 tonne 
per annum plant, though it is expected that the existing site infrastructure and availability of second-hand 
processing equipment could reduce this figure below US$20 million. Targeted earnings for this first US 
facility for salt cake and black dross processing, and aluminium oxide sales and ancillary activities is US$25 
million per annum when operating at full capacity. MHM expects the plant will operate at full capacity of 
250,000 tonnes per annum within 12 months of commissioning. 


MHM continues to negotiate additional supply contracts, and progress is positive.  Management also 
continues to assess the viability of landfilled/stockpiled salt cake for recycling.  The company is examining
opportunities to acquire large volumes of aluminium oxide to produce AL80 for export and additional 
revenue generation.


Consideration of project-financing options is underway and will be finalised when the plant capital cost and 
drawdown schedule are confirmed. Management is confident that a number of options will be available.  As 
always, management is keen to minimise any shareholder dilution to maximise Earnings Per Share and share 
price. 


A New York investor roadshow will commence on 28 February 2012 to inform and engage new investors with 
the MHM story and continue to support the share price.  A number of broking houses are expressing interest 
in publishing research on MHM, which should also benefit the company.


SILICA DIVISION UPDATE


MHM has engaged a corporate adviser to assist with the potential spin-off of the company’s silica division 
and continues to make progress. Another priority is to secure offtake contracts for lump silica and silica flour 
to help underwrite the development of a Tasmanian silicon smelter.   


Considerable effort has also been devoted to securing additional high purity silica reserves to help fast-track 
project development, offtake negotiations and lower production costs.

Aluminum Preferred Over Copper for Cables Helps Rusal, Alcoa: Commodities

Copper has climbed to almost four times the price of aluminum, a record ratio that’s accelerating a switch by manufacturers to using the cheaper metal in electric cables and wires, a United Co. Rusal executive said.
Demand for copper is shrinking by about 400,000 tons a year through substitution, or 2 percent of global use, according to Oleg Mukhamedshin, deputy chief executive officer of Rusal, the world’s largest aluminum producer, who cited market data the company uses in its forecasts.
“More than half of this loss is to aluminum,” Mukhamedshin said in an interview in Moscow. “With copper prices at a record, further substitution is expected.”
The shift is helping the silver-colored metal rise this year after its average price slid 7 percent since 2006. That should increase revenue for producers from Rusal to Alcoa Inc (AA)., the largest U.S. producer, in the $100 billion market for the material used in aircraft, building materials and beer cans.
The current aluminum price is below the cost of production for about 30 percent of the world’s producers, according to Rusal’s data. Alcoa, Rio Tinto Group and their global competitors are cutting production after aluminum prices declined almost 30 percent by the middle of December to $1,962 a ton from the peak of $2,797 a ton in May. Alcoa reported its first loss in two years in January, while Rusal said it may cut 6 percent of its output in 18 months.
The price of copper, half of which is used in wiring, has more than doubled since 2005 to $8,300 a ton and is more profitable for its producers, while aluminum has remained at about $2,200 a ton in the period.

Aluminum Surplus
“Aluminum supply will be in surplus of about 500,000 tons this year, meaning that even relatively small additional demand from the markets, which were traditionally for copper, may support light-metal prices,” Dmitry Smolin, an Uralsib Capital analyst said.
Copper may be in deficit of 160,000 tons this year, which will also be helpful for substitution, which may take place not only in wiring, but also in production of equipment for cars, he said.
London Metal Exchange aluminum forward contracts show that traders forecast the aluminum price to reach $2,530 per ton by the middle of 2015 and $2,900 in a decade. Copper forwards show the opposite trend, with the prices starting to fall by the end of the third quarter of 2013 after reaching $8,500 per ton. Copper may fall to $7,600 per ton in a decade, forwards show.
The ratio of copper’s price to aluminum has jumped to 3.7 from 1 in 1987, tempting customers to switch to the cheaper material, Danemar said.

Copper’s Properties
Copper is at least 65 percent more effective than aluminum in three key properties: electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity and ductility, according to Deutsche Bank. This implies that copper should cost 1.65 times more than aluminum. When that ratio climbs to 2-to-1, an economic incentive to substitute copper with aluminum arises, according to the bank.
About 3 million tons of annual copper demand has been switched to substitutes including plastics, fiber optic and aluminum in 2004 to 2011, according to the estimates of International Copper Association and Deutsche Bank.
“Despite the copper-aluminum ratio rising, the rate of substitution declined post-2007, as most easy-to-accomplish applications have been converted,” Deutsche Bank said in a report last month. Still, there is room to replace copper with aluminum for high-voltage cables and low-voltage use in commercial property and building cladding, according to Alcoa.

Power Lines
Rusal is testing an aluminum-zirconium alloy to provide a substitution to copper in construction of power transmission lines, Mukhamedshin said. The new product will allow the lines to be more resistant to weather conditions, such as low temperatures and heavy snowfalls, he said. The demand may come from Russia’s Siberia and the U.S. which needs to modernize its power grids, Mukhamedshin said.
Even so, analysts are cautious about forecasting a quick comeback.
“Aluminum is plagued by oversupply and we forecast that 2012 will see the sixth consecutive year of supply surplus,” Royal Bank of Scotland said in a report last month. Meanwhile, the copper market “remains in firm supply deficit and it is hard to see this changing within the next one to two years.”
The metal “remains around its cheapest relative to copper in decades,” Nick “Metals” Moore, head of commodity research at Royal Bank of Scotland, said in a report last month. “Consumers have, where possible, been substituting away from copper to aluminum in certain applications such as heat exchangers, cabling and solar panel tubing.”
Vladimir Zhukov, head of the Russian equity research team at HSBC Holdings Plc, said the copper market “is not in danger.” China, the largest consumer of both metals, is still a pure exporter of aluminum, while importing copper, he said.
“It is true that there is space for additional demand for aluminum as a copper substitute, but due to its qualities, the light metal still can’t replace copper in some applications,” Zhukov said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-07/aluminum-over-copper-for-cables-helps-rusal-alcoa-commodities.html

AL80 first shipment in end of February

MHM should have processed around 40,000t of salt slag/non-salt slag/dross.
Dec 2011 - 4074t ss/nss and 915t dross
Sep 2011 - 3694t ss/nss and 1846t dross
Jun 2011 - unknown (says unknown ~4000t)
Mar 2011 - unknown
Dec 2010 - unknown
Sep 2010 - unknown
Jun 2010 - 6960t
Mar 2010 - 6668t
30%-40% of alox for each tonne of salt slag, then minimum we should have around 12000t of AL80 available (or 8 months min. supply).

US Property Settlement

ASX Release – 2 February 2012


MHM Metals  Limited (ASX:MHM) is pleased to announce the settlement of a 
property purchase contract over  a  115-acre  industrial site  in  Russellville, 
Kentucky. The property is the planned location for construction of MHM’s first 
US salt cake and black dross recycling facility.


The final settlement figure of $838,761 was  funded  from MHM’s existing cash 
reserves.  The company is in the process of finalising process plant design and 
costing, with a number of existing buildings on site expected to  decrease both
time and expense of plant construction.  The site is zoned correctly for its 
purpose.  


After assessing over 30 sites throughout the middle Tennessee and southern 
Kentucky region, the Russellville site  is  the  preferred  location  for  plant 
construction.  Factors included:


• Identification of in excess of 350,000 tonnes per annum of salt slag and 
black dross within an economic radius of the plant site
• Government support and incentives, not only financial but also the probusiness environment in Logan County
• A highly skilled local workforce and availability of workers
• Availability of rail along the property boundary
• Availability of ample electricity supplies to the property for initial and 
future requirements


The large land-holding provides ample opportunity for MHM to grow, and to 
accommodate additional associated technologies under development. 



Additional Plant Location Opportunities


MHM continues to engage with a number of companies  with  operations  in  north  eastern United States and 
south eastern Canada to assess further salt slag and black dross recycling opportunities. A substantial 
volume of material has been identified in this region as well as companies supportive of MHM’s business that 
recognise the imperative to cease landfilling.    Management’s  primary  focus  in  the  US  continues  to  be  on  the 
construction of the Russellville Kentucky facility, although with its  high  growth  objectives  the  company  is 
assessing other compelling site alternatives.

January 2012 Top40

December Top40

Chart for end of 2011