Roundtable Discussion; The Future of Mineral Sands. Watch the video here.
London South East prides itself on its community spirit, and in order to keep the chat section problem free, we ask all members to follow these simple rules. In these rules, we refer to ourselves as "we", "us", "our". The user of the website is referred to as "you" and "your".
By posting on our share chat boards you are agreeing to the following:
The IP address of all posts is recorded to aid in enforcing these conditions. As a user you agree to any information you have entered being stored in a database. You agree that we have the right to remove, edit, move or close any topic or board at any time should we see fit. You agree that we have the right to remove any post without notice. You agree that we have the right to suspend your account without notice.
Please note some users may not behave properly and may post content that is misleading, untrue or offensive.
It is not possible for us to fully monitor all content all of the time but where we have actually received notice of any content that is potentially misleading, untrue, offensive, unlawful, infringes third party rights or is potentially in breach of these terms and conditions, then we will review such content, decide whether to remove it from this website and act accordingly.
Premium Members are members that have a premium subscription with London South East. You can subscribe here.
London South East does not endorse such members, and posts should not be construed as advice and represent the opinions of the authors, not those of London South East Ltd, or its affiliates.
Hi Terrafin : Until now Lehigh Western belonged to Heidelberg Cement Group, which can certainly be described as "internationally recognised". It will be interesting to see if this phrase continues to be used in future sres communications!
SGD - PC refers to the CRMC as "internationally recoginised " - can LeHigh be classified as this ? They seem heavily weighted to America ??
"These assets serve as a new growth platform for our continued geographic expansion and are uniquely positioned to benefit from favorable market dynamics and accelerating public and private construction activity in California and Arizona."
I had been wondering why PC had chosen this moment to update the company presentation. Perhaps Lehigh asked for it, to put in front of their new masters.
Then again, I'm sometimes guilty of overanalysis :-)
If (and it's a very big IF) my speculation is correct, and we're talking to LeHigh, then this would be very significant, and could help things move forward :
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/10/01/2307248/0/en/Martin-Marietta-Completes-Acquisition-of-Lehigh-Hanson-s-West-Region-Business.html
(See earlier posts in this thread for background.)
On the off-chance my guess happened to be correct, and we're destined to become some sort of adjunct to Lehigh West, then I fear people's patience may be tested for a while yet. The acquisition by MM was announced on 24 May but is "Subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions" & "Expected to close in the second half of 2021" *, so could still be months away. Until then we couldn't even be completely sure who we should be negotiating with, MM or the current owners, Heidelberg Cement Group (which incidentally does qualify as "internationally recognised", even if MM doesn't).
* Source:
https://ir.martinmarietta.com/static-files/9e0abcb6-7657-457a-a2aa-6dff40f838a0
which is a presentation giving a bit more detail on the Lehigh West acquisition.
@Terrafin : One reason we might both be wrong is that PC refers to "an internationally recognised cement and ready-mix concrete company" (HY Report 24/05/21). I believe Eagle & MM are almost entirely US focused (though MM does include Canada, the Bahamas and the Caribbean Islands). Holcim & Cemex would certainly fit that description though...
@Cavendish : ...as would Boral, except I'm not sure it qualifies for "ready-mix"?
I've heard from a few people (including on this board) that Boral have been to visit us on numerous occasions are in the process of undertaking due diligence?
Is MIneralex still with us - What are your views on where things are at ? ......
Sgd I do like your posts. But we really need the results on those tests. Until we know how they went there really isn't much point in even thinking we are in talks. That is the brutal reality. We can keep speculating for years but we need to be updated. Did the last test go as planned? No body knows other than pc and the potential customer
Hi Terrafin,
We only have limited information to go on, but of course it's tempting to speculate.
Eagle would certainly be on my short list of four, along with Cemex, Holcim and Martin Marietta. There are plenty of other large CRMCs, but the ones I've looked at have not had a strong presence in Western USA.
I'd also consider two non-CRMC "wild cards" we've discussed here recently:
1. Boral, because of their fly ash specialisation (or whoever they sell their NA fly ash assets to, if that happens).
2. Progressive Planet, which is developing a recycled glass + natural pozzolan mix. They're a tiny company but with lofty ambitions.
If I was forced to bet on just one, I'd probably go for Martin Marietta. Various reasons:
1. Their attention is currently very focussed on our geographical region, having just acquired the Lehigh West Region assets.
2. Quote from Q2 results: "This acquisition also allows us to pursue future attractive and complementary bolt-on opportunities."
3. The Lehigh 'green' cement product is primarily fly ash based, so they're going to be facing the supply squeeze. I don't see any natural pozzolan in the Lehigh package.
4. They've shown a preference for acquisitions rather than development from scratch, and seem to appreciate value of permitting *
5. It would explain our delays - they have $2.3 billion worth of new assets to integrate before working out how a minnow like SRES might fit in.
So there would be some logic in it, but when did logic ever apply to AIM companies?!
I should stress again this is all just speculation based on very limited information. DYOR.
* see Slides 30 & 31 :
https://ir.martinmarietta.com/static-files/8a92a1e0-c5e5-4500-9793-de1e9166fd38
Well if it is, it has a 4billion dollar market cap. Sales of 447million last quarter, so SRES with its green credentials would be small fry to pick off, and easily warrant the train line extension investment going forward. Small enough deal for them to be done in straight cash, securing them just about limitless supplies, with scope to sell on the perlite. The question is what premium to our mkt cap! Exciting times.
Looking at the companies SGD27 highlighted a few days ago I continue with my belief that the CRMC is Eagle Materials which own Nevada Cement Company which is where I think our 500 ton sample ended up.
On there website :
"Nevada Cement manufactures an all-purpose Type I/II low alkali moderate sulfate resistant cement, Type II/V low alkali high sulfate resistant cement, IP portland-pozzolan high sulfate resistant cement and Class N Pozzolan. We produce and distribute over five hundred thousand tons of cement annually.
Nevada Cement Company has been a longstanding and active member of the Nevada Mining Association. We are a mining company and supplier."
Nothing about Perlite with them however ...
Eagle Materials currently trading on the NYSE at $143 per share.
The wait goes on ...