Hi Peppie, I very appreciate that you mentioned Rio held...

Hi Peppie,

I very appreciate that you mentioned Rio held thunderbird interest prior to SFX. I never would of known myself.

I did some research over the weekend (yeah, people went out and had fun while I stayed in front of my laptop for hours digging). To be honest, it happened during a very interesting time where zircon demand halved because of sub prime mortgage crisis in 2009. Producers were forced to close their production to lower their inventory level. On the other hand, thunderbird had not yet proven reserves even though testing results were exceptional. It would be considered too costly at the time for Rio (my opinion) to continue its exploration where zircon producers faced with high inventory level, therefore not economical for Rio to continue its exploration. However, soon after Rio let go of thunderbird, zircon price started to recover from 2010 to its peak in 2012.

Then, a small company called Sheffield Resources took over Thunderbird and subsequently booked its reserve in 2014, which was named one of the biggest zircon discovery in a decade. Not many small company has the opportunity to hold on to a world class deposit but SFX is one of the few.

One of the research report called feedstock & zircon market study that I had read over the weekend was from industrial mineral (1 May 2018). On page 16, it addresses future shortage and supply issues. It worth a read. To summarize it, zircon in next few years will face a supply issue(industrial mineral constantly used the word concern).

Other reports that I had read were regarding the future use of zircon sand. With the advent of 5G network, metal can't be used as phone frames as it blocks signal but glasses are too fragile. Therefore, ceramic frame is a better ( almost must option for 5 G mobile devices) . Xiaomi has already put it into practice but the cost of ceramic frame is still high. I hope with an improvement in technology, it will come early.

All the best for holders