Mayur Resources (ASX:MRL) - PNG project developer

Interviews

by Jessica Amir

Mayur Resources Limited (ASX:MRL) Managing Director, Paul Mulder discusses the company's and lime project in PNG, mining lease application and funding.

Jessica Amir: Thanks for tuning into the Finance News Network. I'm Jessica Amir and today and I'm with Mayur Resources managing director Paul Mulder. Paul, great to see you again and welcome back.

Paul Mulder: Thank you for having me again.

Jessica Amir: So Mayur Resources (ASX:MRL) has got a number of projects from industrial minerals to energy projects in PNG, and you've also got a cement and lime project, which is just about to get approved for a mining lease. Just tell us where the business is at.

Paul Mulder: The business is at a really exciting time for us. Currently we've got as you said, a mining lease waiting for approval, cement and lime. For us that's going to be huge project and for Papua New Guinea. They don't have their own cement plant in the country, so clinker and cement vertically integrated doesn't exist. We reside right next to ExxonMobil so $18 billion PNG LNG facility right on the coast. So from a project perspective, access to the market of Australia, of importing cement and clinker as well as supplying all the domestic needs for Papua New Guinea. It's a big win for Papua New Guinea and for the shareholders of Mayur. So we're really excited about that.

We're also very excited about the mineral sands project that we have at Orokolo Bay. The ordering of that equipment has already occurred. All the financial engineering, the actual design, the future offtake arrangements are in place and customers are waiting to trial the product.

So we're very excited about that and we're hoping to see product coming out next year with all of the equipment arriving this year and construction late this year with operations early next year. The power project as well in Lae, a very good opportunity for us there. We're waiting for a power purchase agreement to be signed. Upon that being signed, we then can go into construction.

All of these projects, when you look at the linkages, all are about nation building. The country's only got 13 per cent electrification. We need a cheap, cost-effective, reliable power plant. They don't have any cement in the country and they need to import cement and clinker. We can now do that for them. Mineral sands as well. This is a first of its kind, so no mineral sands operations are exporting, bringing revenue dollars into PNG.

Jessica Amir: So that flows perfectly to my next question. So you've got a new prime minister or a recently appointed new prime minister back in May who's got a renewed focus on really getting the nation to be self-sufficient in 10 years, as well as working with resource companies to get more benefits for them. So how does that bode for Mayur Resources and how will you in turn benefit the community?

Paul Mulder: Our company had the opportunity to present to him and he was very generous with his time. We were in his offices explaining our entire nation building portfolio. He was very impressed with the commitment and dedication that we've had and how far we've taken all of our projects.

I think that our focus on nation building and displacing importation, which we have been talking about for years now, is a very strong theme that's coming through from the government from the very top down. So we think we're at a very perfect point in time where the government's renewed focus is there.

We have not just got an idea, we've got a real project and projects that are ready to actually go into construction and meet the government's expectations. So look, anything that's going to displace imports and also grow on export business, which is what our businesses will do. The government has already said it should've happened yesterday, let's get on with it and get it done.

Jessica Amir: You've just completed a capital raise. How much did you raise and what was the purpose?

Paul Mulder: The purpose for the capital raise was really to show investors that we have the sufficient capital to get to a financial investment decision on the lime project, get the mineral sands into operation, and also bring the power project into construction.

So it essentially gives us funding between now and the end of next year, which gives us ample runway to get those key milestones across our three verticals done.

Jessica Amir: And so moving to today and going forward for the next six months, what are the priorities and also longer term?

Paul Mulder: Priorities for us today is the flagship, the cement and lime project. Getting that financed so we've Morgans and KPMG raising our equity and debt for us at the moment, that's a live engagement. That's really the focus for us for the next six months.

In parallel with that, our mineral sands division. Our executive there is heading up all of the equipment coming in and really that's the focus of making sure the equipment comes in on time and on budget and that we're able to then with our partner who we have previously announced, is able to send trial shipments to the market being, China.

The power project, its focus there really is to get the government to sign the power purchase agreement and deliver cheap power and energy to the country. And that's where as soon as the government signs that project, we're ready to move.

Jessica Amir: And just lastly, Paul, before we let you go, is there anything that you can share with investors today?

Paul Mulder: I'd point to the recent Bill Potter research. They've got a target price of $1.20, we're sitting at 55 cents. The way we look at this is that the market is starting to get an understanding of I would call it first mover, early advantage.

From there I think that the testimony is just a quality share register as well. If you want to get online and see who the major shareholders are, you'll see that we've got very credible shareholders that have also bought into this vision and support management in what we're doing.

Jessica Amir: Well, thank you so much for coming in, Paul Mulder. It's great to see you again.

Paul Mulder: Thank you for having me.


Ends

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