The Exchanges

Q So can you say a bit more then about the structure of the project in Brazil? So you're taking in waste as input. Are you building the plant entirely on your own, or do you have a partnership for the construction of that plant? And then say a bit about your offtake agreements and who's buying the metals you're producing.

A Yeah. We are doing by ourselves. So the, the, uh, the plant in Brazil is a wholly owned subsidiary of Boston Metal. We, we built by ourselves. Uh, in a, in a record time. So we, so it's going to be one year to get the first module in operation, and another nine to 10 months to get full capacity running. Uh, so very, very successful, uh, plan to, to, to build, uh, the capacity that, that we have, we will have there pretty soon. And, uh, uh, so now, In order to answer the, the second part of your question on, on the offtakes, ah, if we wanted, we would have a hundred percent of the production signed in offtakes today, because this critical metals, ah, the tier one trading, trading companies in the world, they're all interested in them, and we are very well connected to them. So we, we know these markets very well, and the metals we are producing are very critical everywhere. So, tin, ah, for electronic applications and soldering, niobium for the steel and super alloys, and, and very special, other special applications, and tantalum for, ah, super alloys in aircraft engines, and also in, in, in, especially in, in, in capacitors, electrolytic capacitors. With all these, ah, data centers that Everyone wants to have all over the place without tantalum. Forget about it. You know, it's people sometimes don't realize that you need a lot of mining to deploy what's going to be the best fo…

AI assessment note: “We are doing by ourselves. So the, the, uh, the plant in Brazil is a wholly owned subsidiary”

Q So can you say a bit more about this Are there specific ways that you made the decision to come down to these two options? Was it really about the market value? You mentioned impact as being important to you. Was that an important thing to your investors too? Like, how did you think about which directions to pursue, and why did you wind up with two instead of one?

A Well, Lara, the thing is, first of all, it can't be a distraction, right? So, so you, you, you have, if you are going with more than one front, They, they have to help each other, and it, it hurts to say no to an elegant project, being a technical person, I'll tell you. But, but the thing is, it's, it's very necessary. You need to Lay the first tag, show that the thing works, and then, and then you go and increase your, your scope, right? So, why these two? Because they were not distractions. So, we, we can deploy the, the critical metals, everything that is developed there, except for the inert anode that is specific for the steel, everything else will help the steel development. So, and, On top of that, you make money earlier to make the, the enterprise sustainable and, and to get to the, the most critical solution, which is the steel, the decarbonization of steel. So, uh, when, when you are developing something that is very difficult in tough tech in, in the, you know, in, in this, uh, capital intensive solutions, uh, you keep asking The shareholders for more money, more money, more money. So, and then every round, ah, the question is, who is going to write the next check, right? So in our case, if you have another front that can bring resources earlier, that's who is going to write the next check. So you, you make the enterprise, ah, more, you know, much more sustainable.

AI assessment note: “So, why these two? Because they were not distractions.”

Q I talked with Tadeau about Boston Metal's coal-free, emissions-free, modular method of industrial steel production using electricity. And we talked about how the company is scaling up that technology in places like Brazil. But first, I wanted to know what obstacles he faced when he joined Boston Metal. What was the very first challenge you faced as CEO when you joined the Boston Metal team?

A The first thing was to, uh, to focus into These two businesses that, that we are developing with the same technology. The fundamental thing can be used for several different, ah, metal systems. So the first thing was to focus and say, look, it's, it's one technology that's applied for critical metals, high value, low volume metals, and also steel. Right, so still always as, as the high star, multi-trillion dollar business, more than seven percent of CO two emissions and responsible for that. So it's, it's very, very important. Uh, and, and the industry needs a solution for that. But the, the, the nice thing about it is that you can use the same technology and help the steel development by deploying The low volume, high value, critical metals. So, so the first challenge was focusing, and then right after that was to find the, the right funding to grow the business. So I, I thought the thing was so cool and so important that I, I would, uh, get one of my friends, uh, in, in the steel industry, uh, who was, who were CEOs at, at, at the time, To, to say, I want this for me. So this, you know, it would be right away a strategic buyout, and, and, and at that time, uh, it was too early for them. So I visited the, the steel industry, uh, nine years ago, and eight years ago, and it was too early. And so, the challenge then was to find, uh, funds, climate funds, who would be willing to b…

AI assessment note: “So, so the first challenge was focusing, and then right after that was to find”

Q Okay, so even as you're working on building your successively larger demonstrations in Woburn, You're also already in process building your first commercial facility in Brazil. So can you say a bit about what that project looks like and how it started?

A Yeah, it's, ah, so that's the first industrial, ah, plant, ah, for the critical metals. So we, we are going to use as feedstock, ah, slags that are waste, are continued, are considered waste, and therefore has negative cost, because they have to be stored somewhere. And, ah, and that's the feedstock for our process. These slags have residual amounts of Tin, niobium, and tantalum oxide, and our process can recover those values from these slags that otherwise are, you know, just a liability in balance sheets, right? So, so we, ah, we, we will have, the first plant will have approximately 10,000 tons a year of ferro-alloy capacity, extracting these values from Slags that, ah, as I, as I described to you, they, they don't have any, any value today or any technology that can retrieve those, those value, ah, metals that, that are there. Ah, it is at the same time that, that we will have a carbon footprint that at one 10th of the incumbents today. It's, ah, it's going to solve an environmental problem because you, you have these slags Uh, placed in, in, in the stacks all over the place. So you, you take the value and you create, create value from them. Uh, and you bring efficiency. So it's, it's, it's not only, uh, decarbonizing, decarbonizing. We, we, to, efficiency is the name of the game today as well for us as societies. Uh, you know, some call it circularity, circular economy. Th…

AI assessment note: “the first plant will have approximately 10,000 tons a year of ferro-alloy capacity”

Q project off the ground, from financing to construction, after the break. So you have a pretty strong industrial partnership to make this work. So can you say a bit about that, especially given that you mentioned that it was a little bit tricky to get their attention, that you were too early at one point. So what did you need to demonstrate in order to make this partnership a reality?

A Well, now, yeah, we have lots of giants in, uh, in our cup table today. So, you know, the, the largest mining company in the world, BHP, the, the, the largest supplier of iron ore, Vale from Brazil, the, the largest, uh, uh, international steelmaking company, ArcelorMittal. Then you have Saudi Aramco, you have Microsoft, you, if you have the, The largest bunch of billionaires together, which is the breakthrough energy ventures led by Bill Gates. So it's, uh, we, we are very proud of, of the syndicate of investors that we have. Uh, we, even the World Bank, uh, represented by IFC is, is a shareholder of the company. And, uh, so, you know, in order to get their attention, what, what was necessary was, was to show that we are, we were, uh, Delivering on, on the milestones that, that we promised, right? So as, as we were able to, uh, develop the technology and, and, and move the needle in towards becoming commercial and, and an industrial level, uh, you attract the attention of, of more and more investors. And, and, uh, and we were very, uh, You know, it's, we're, we're super happy to, to, to have been able to attract all these plenty giants that, that are today forming our, our syndicate of investors. They all spread. I mean, no one controls the narrative, so they work together, ah, to, in, in a way that, that the company can do what's the best for the company. So that's, that's th…

AI assessment note: “was to show that we are, we were, uh, Delivering on, on the milestones”

Q about your next couple of projects. You mentioned that you've got 200 on your list, and I presume you're not actively developing all of those at the same time. So how are you thinking about the pipeline of projects that you're developing? How many of them are you actively working on, and when and how do you think you can access significant amounts of non-dilutive funding to build these projects?

A Well, we, we are working in, in, in, in, in different ways, taking advantage of, of the, the geopolitical situation we have today, uh, You know, every country wants to, to have domestic production of critical metals today. So, so that's, that's where we, we may be able to find non-dilutive capital in order to solve specific problems, being that associated to defense or, or to, uh, strategic, uh, uh, stockpiles or, you know, and, and, and, and, and for, for important, Um, industries that depend on, uh, on, on specific metals and, and, and a country has to import a hundred percent of that metal. So these things leads to, uh, opportunities to find incentives and, and non-dilutive capital, right? So, so that's, uh, that's one component that, that, that will determine the next, uh, the next plant we will build. So if we have those opportunities available, we will tend to explore those. But then, uh, we don't need that because these, uh, low volume, high value, critical metals, uh, our, our, uh, processes is very profitable in, in, in getting those. So we, we will be able to get project finance, uh, and, uh, and deploy the next, uh, the next opportunity. So we, We are analyzing which critical metals. We are not going to concentrate in only one metal. We are, we are analyzing where these slags and, and waste containing these oxides with, with high value, uh, are available. Uh, the mos…

AI assessment note: “that's where we, we may be able to find non-dilutive capital”