Investor News

Shareholder Update - December 2014

Dear fellow shareholders,

While there is no material new information I’m able to disclose at present with respect to our engagement with NLC, NMDC and others, I would like to provide a brief recap of our current direction and activities ahead of our short break over the Christmas & New Year period.

Firstly, our office is now closed and will reopen 9am, Monday 5 January 2015.

For urgent enquiries, please email us - [email protected].

Matmor Acquisition

As announced on 4 December 2014, we’ve formally acquired the Matmor technology.

This is significant in that it removes complexity relating to discussions with NMDC and NLC around progress of Matmtor, along side Coldry, and this is important in their decision making process.

With the conclusion of the Matmor acquisition, we’re in a position to step forward in our development and investment discussions with both parties.

Coldry Demonstration

As shareholders will be aware our primary focus throughout the year has been on developing a suitable Coldry demonstration proposal with NLC. A distant second until recently were discussions and activities relating to Matmor development, with NMDC.

The Coldry Feasibility Study is currently moving through detailed Board-level review at NLC, and as outlined at our recent AGM we’re recasting the Coldry Feasibility Study to cater for a three-party approach incorporating Matmor.

This extra layer of activity has seen revisions to our indicative timelines, however we believe the goal of reaching agreement on the combined development of Coldry and Matmor with two highly capable partners warrants the focus and effort.

Bringing it together

The synergies are clear. NLC have lignite. NMDC have iron ore. ECT has technologies that can add value to both.

Joining forces via a suitable collaboration framework acts to mitigate risk, which is an important consideration for any commercialisation activity.

Coldry demonstration ahead of Matmor Pilot development, mitigates the risk of the front end raw material preparation stage for Matmor.

Matmor Pilot development provides a higher value pathway for NLC’s lignite, mitigating the offtake risk implied by the cyclical nature of coal prices by providing the ability to produce both thermal coal or Matmor feedstock pellets. 

With this in mind, our key activities moving in to the new year will centre around:

  1. Joint collaboration for Coldry and Matmor Development
  2. Matmor testing

Phase 2 Matmor testing on NMDC ore is currently underway following the receipt of several tonnes of NMDC ore and NLC lignite.

As mentioned at our recent AGM, the work ahead is challenging, yet achievable and with your continued support, and the dedication of the ECT team toward delivering our objectives, I believe we can realise the considerable potential of both the Coldry and Matmor technologies.

I wish you all a pleasant festive season and look forward to providing further updates in due course.

Sincerely,

Ashley Moore
Managing Director