ASX:AUZ

- Australian Mines Limited

There are only three known primary scandium deposits with grades above ~300ppm on the planet.

AUZ owns one of them and out of the three, has the highest grades.

Scandium is always found in tiny amounts, trace amounts in the earth’s crust.

Grade is good because typically, it means the lowest cost, highest margin asset (when developed and in production).

Here is how AUZ’s grade stacks up against Rio and Sunrise’s assets:

• $58M AUZ - 446ppm
• $3.2BN Sunrise Energy Metals - 408ppm
• $292BN Rio Tinto - 405ppm

AUZ’s neighbour Sunrise Energy Metals was the best performing mining stock of 2025.

Its share price is up >80x in the last 18 months.

(past performance is not an indicator of future performance)

AUZ and Sunrise share the same 60tpa planned output, a similar mine life, similar capex AND both assets sit on the same geological intrusion.

AUZ is capped at $58M, Sunrise at $3.2BN.

AUZ is two study-stages behind (PFS and reserves) - so as its project gets de-risked we think its valuation gap to SRL could close.

(source)

AUZ’s neighbour has done deals with:

• $139BN defence contractor Lockheed Martin for scandium offtake, AND
• The US government for US$400m in loan funding to build its project.

We think US funding proves real buyers want the world’s first primary scandium mine built.

Which can only be good for any other scandium assets in this part of the world...

We think AUZ could capture some of the attention and market interest in Sunrise and reach critical mass to progress its own project.

(source)(source)(source)(source)

AUZ’s asset is advanced stage with a 2026 scoping study showing a Net Present Value (NPV) of US$860M from US$125M CAPEX.

That NPV number is based on a scandium price of US$3,000/kg - well below the price the US Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) is paying for stockpiled material at ~US$6,250/kg. (source)

At US$6,000 per kg AUZ’s NPV is ~US$2.04BN.

(source)

China controls ~80% of scandium mining and ~100% of processing. (source)

China has had export controls in place on every form of scandium since April 2025. (source)

~74% of current global scandium demand is from one company - Bloom Energy.

Bloom makes the fuel cells that power AI data centres - each GW of fuel cell capacity requires ~45 tonnes of scandium oxide.

Bloom’s target is 2GW of capacity by year end and estimates are for 5GW by 2030.

IF any of that eventuates, Bloom would require multiples of last year’s scandium production (~80 tonnes).

(wonder what the US Department of War thinks about this)

A small amount of scandium in aluminium makes it a stronger and much lighter alloy.

Essential for fighter jets, missiles, hypersonics and 3D-printed aerospace parts.

And these are just the advanced weapons applications of scandium that we know about.

This is why US$139BN Lockheed Martin has been locking in its future scandium supply:

(source)(source)

Lockheed Martin is just one military contractor from one country - there are many more around in the USA and around the world.

And this is before we get into the on site fuel cells that are powering AI data centres.

The US Department of War, Lockheed Martin and Robert Friedland have spent 18 months talking about scandium.

Friedland, Lockheed, the DoW and the White House have done all the scandium education.

Which we think makes AUZ’s project an easy to understand US suitable asset.

Especially for a SPAC ("special purpose acquisition company”).

SPACs are listed “shell companies” on a US exchange with no assets, a big cash balance AND a ~18-24 month deadline to find and buy a real asset/project.

US$1BN+ of fresh SPAC capital is hunting critical minerals assets that US investors already understand.

Structurally, SPACs, need the public to understand an asset and get behind it otherwise they don't work.

We think AUZ’s asset fits that criteria.

During the 2017-18 battery metals boom (the little one BEFORE the big bull run) , AUZ ran from a ~$30M market cap in August 2017 to ~$235M within about four months - up as much as ~760%.

(past performance is not an indicator of future performance)

That was for its advanced stage (Sconi) nickel-cobalt project in Queensland.

We actually wrote an article about that asset waaay back in 2017 - (source - Long-time readers may remember it)

AUZ still owns that asset outright on granted mining leases - so it could come good if nickel and cobalt prices went on a big run.

AUZ is earning up to 80% of a gold project in Brazil, in a region that’s produced over 30M ounces.

The project already has a ~336,000 ounces historic foreign resource estimate.

With some monster drill hits: 104.5m @ 1.59 g/t and 29m @ 3.22 g/t.

With gold near all-time highs, we think this project can get bigger... and could underpin a big chunk of AUZ's ~$58M market cap.