WA political veteran Vince Catania takes the reins at Hastings

Hastings Technology Metals has handed the chief executive baton to political veteran and company insider Vince Catania as the rare earths hopeful eyes a critical next chapter to develop its flagship Yangibana project in Western Australia.

The former WA state MP, who joined Hastings in 2023 as general manager of corporate, has stepped up as CEO effective immediately after spearheading discussions with Andrew Forrest’s Wyloo Consolidated Investments that led to the company’s joint venture (JV) over Yangibana.

There can be no doubt about his political skills - Catania had a successful career in the WA parliament for more than 18 years.

He was elected as a Labor Party member of the upper house in 2005, where he represented the state’s mining and pastoral region. He then moved to the lower house in the 2008 election by winning the huge regional North West Central seat.

After a spat with his Labor colleagues, Catania made what could have been a career-ending move by switching his political allegiance to the Nationals WA. In the 2013 election, he stood as a Nationals WA candidate for North West Central – and won. He was re-elected in 2017 and again in 2021.

WA’s vast north west electorate includes the Yangibana site and, as its former MP, Catania is no stranger to the land or its challenges. Since joining Hastings, he has played a central role in maintaining environmental approvals and building trusted relationships with the region’s traditional owners.

I look forward to working closely with Wyloo as we move Yangibana further along the construction path and into FID, as well as working to progress our broader portfolio of assets including the Brockman heavy rare earths and niobium project and the Whiteheads gold project.

Thanks largely to Catania’s political nous, Hastings carved out its clever joint venture deal with Wyloo, which saw the company hold onto a solid 40 per cent stake in the Yangibana rare earths project. Wyloo took 60 per cent and has an option to lift its stake to 70 per cent.

In return for handing over control, Hastings wiped a big chunk of debt off its books – a smart move that tightened the company’s balance sheet while keeping meaningful skin in the game.

Wyloo agreed to forgive $115 million from a ballooning $200M loan, originally issued to Hastings three years ago to fund its 21.5 per cent stake in Canadian magnet powerhouse Neo Performance Materials.

The remaining $85M was also cleared after Hastings transferred its entire Neo stake - coincidentally valued at $85M - straight to Wyloo. The companies first teamed up in 2021 when Wyloo fronted $150M via an exchangeable loan note to bankroll the Neo acquisition - a debt that later swelled with interest and fees.

Executive chairman Charles Lew said Catania has been a key asset since coming on board in 2023 and has played a crucial role across the business, including steering the company’s partnership with Wyloo.

Catania’s appointment lands at a pivotal time for Hastings as it closes in on a final investment decision (FID) for the company’s world-class neodymium-praseodymium rare earths and niobium deposit in WA’s Gascoyne region.

Hastings aims to make the fully permitted Yangibana project a major player in the renewable energy and electric vehicle supply chain. With a 20.9-million-tonne ore reserve and plans to process 1.1Mt annually over a 17-year mine life, the project will produce 37,000 tonnes per annum of rare earth concentrates – 27 per cent of which are total rare earth oxides.

Notably, neodymium and praseodymium oxides, which are critical for high-performance magnets used in green technologies, make up 37 per cent of the mix. Yangibana also hosts a 6.7Mt niobium resource that could offer a valuable secondary revenue stream.

Hastings has already sunk $158M into developing the project, with a further $316M flagged to reach production. The site is construction-ready, with a 294-room village, 2-kilometre airstrip, access roads, a bore field and processing plant equipment already secured, putting Hastings well ahead of the pack as the rare earths market gathers momentum.

By the time Catania bowed out of politics in 2022, he’d weathered five straight elections and smoothly navigated shifts between parties and parliamentary houses – a testament to his sharp political instincts. It’s that same savvy he’ll likely lean on as he now climbs the ranks of the ASX corporate world.

With a high neodymium-praseodymium ratio and a 17-year initial mine life, Hastings and Wyloo appear to be positioning Yangibana as a cornerstone rare earths project for Australia and a key piece in the global supply chain puzzle.

The clock is ticking on construction, and Catania will be the man holding the blueprint.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au