- FYI Resources (FYI) and Alcoa of Australia have mutually agreed to extend an exclusivity agreement by another month to October 5
- The pair entered a 90-day exclusivity period in May to assess commercial development opportunities for FYI’s high purity alumina (HPA) project
- This marks the second time the exclusivity discussion period has been extended
- FYI Resources MD Roland Hill says the extension is “simply giving the potential JV discussions the time and consideration the strategy deserves”
- Company shares are down 9.20 per cent to trade at 79 cents at 11:10 am AEST
FYI Resources (FYI) and Alcoa of Australia have mutually agreed to extend an exclusivity agreement to October 5, 2021.
After entering a memorandum of understanding late last year regarding the commercial development of FYI’s high purity alumina (HPA) project, the companies entered a 90-day exclusive discussion period in May this year.
However at the start of this month, when the 90 days were up, the companies decided to extend the exclusive discussion period by another month to continue assessing the content and potential of the project.
The second extension announced today is reportedly to allow the partners to further consider HPA opportunities and potentially incorporate them into a binding JV term sheet, and to refine the term sheet.
Alongside the recent discussions, FYI has been developing multiple HPA ‘value-add initiatives’ that may enhance and strengthen the position of the JV within the market.
FYI Resources Managing Director Roland Hill said he considered the extension to be a positive.
“Both companies have invested a considerable amount of time and resources to progress the JV discussions to this point. It is a mutual decision to extend the negotiations to consider the value-add opportunities,” he said.
“We see the extension as positive as it allows both parties further time to assess and implement their intentions in order to achieve a positive outcome. We are simply giving the potential JV discussions all the time and consideration that the strategy deserves.”
Alcoa President Michael Gollschewski said he was encouraged by the progress being made.
“We continue to carefully consider this opportunity that has the potential to be a natural complement to Alcoa’s existing alumina refining operations.”
Company shares were down 9.20 per cent to trade at 79 cents at 11:10 am AEST.