Impact Minerals Ltd Annual Report 2023 13 Review of Operations continued Figure 10. Forecast growth in HPA demand to 2030 (Commodity Research Unit report 2020). Demand for sapphire glass, although accounting for a relatively small share of the overall market, is also growing at 8% to 10% CAGR. Sapphire glass has precise input tolerances, and a small number of market participants dominates production. In addition, as noted above, other uses for Ultra High Purity precursors are also likely to be realised in the coming years. In the Asia-Pacific region, government funding has fuelled the manufacturing capacity investments for electronic companies, which in turn is expected to fuel the demand for HPA over the next decade. SUMMARY AND NEXT STEPS The unique nature of the Lake Hope deposit, which allows for very low cost, low environmental footprint quarrying, combined with straightforward metallurgical processing, presents a clear path to producing high purity alumina products that command high margins in a global market forecast to expand over the next decade dramatically. As such, the Lake Hope Project presents a compelling opportunity for Impact Minerals and its shareholders. The company will move towards production as quickly as practicable over the next few years. Impact is now working towards the following goals in 2024: – Completion of a Scoping Study. – Baseline environmental studies. – Baseline heritage surveys and continued discussions with the Ngadju First Nations Group, in particular, the application for a Mining Lease. Investors should note that an agreement with the Ngadju Group will be required to gain access for mining. – Lodgement of an application for a Mining Lease. – A Pre-Feasibility Study, to be completed by mid 2024. The Lake Hope Project will become the main focus of Impact’s activities going forward. The PFS and DFS are estimated to cost about $2.5 million over the next two years. This relatively low cost for feasibility studies compared to other more conventional projects will allow exploration to continue at Impact’s other projects.
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