RE: Full write up22 Mar 2018 21:43
Complete version
Tertiary Minerals
Building a Strategic Position in the Fluorspar Sector
Ticker – TYM
Shares in issue – 359.219m
Shareprice – 1.40p
Market Capitalization - £5m
Tertiary Minerals plc, the AIM-traded company building a strategic position in the fluorspar sector with multiple 100% owned fluorspar projects aswell as multiple investment projects
Fluorspar is an essential raw material in the chemical, steel and aluminium industries with no large scale commercial alternative, or recycling available. Tertiary controls two significant Scandinavian projects (Storuman in Sweden and Lassedalen in Norway) and a large deposit of strategic significance in Nevada USA (MB Project) from which the Company is planning to produce premium grade fluorspar - acid-spar.
A European Commission report has named fluorspar as one of its 27 'critical mineral raw materials' for which a predicted supply shortage would represent a substantial economic threat. The USA considers fluorspar as a strategic mineral and is currently importing 100% of its fluorspar.
Western Europe and North America are the largest acid-spar consuming regions outside China.
China's fluorspar exports have continued to decline since 2000 driven by increasing internal demand and production/export restrictions which sees the country evolving from a large net exporter to a potential net importer. In 2017 China listed fluorspar as a Strategic Mineral.
Based on the macroeconomic drivers the Company is strategically placed to capitalise on this position in the future by developing its 100% owned large fluorspar assets located in the USA and Europe
Fluorspar – Principal Uses
There are two principal commercial grades of fluorspar produced:
Metallurgical-spar (60-96% CaF2)
Acid-spar (+97% CaF2)
Metallurgical-spar accounts for approximately 35-40% of the total fluorspar production with the principal applications being:
Steel production – used as a flux to lower the melting temperature and increase the chemical reactivity to help the absorption and removal of sulphur, phosphorus, carbon and other impurities in the ****
Cement – used as a flux to speed up the calcination process and enables the kiln to operate at lower temperatures
Acid-spar, the grade of fluorspar which the Company is planning to produce, accounts for approximately 60-65% of total fluorspar production with the principal applicationsbeing:
Aluminium production – used to produce aluminium fluoride (ALF3) which acts as a flux to lower the bath temperature in the manufacture of aluminium
Manufacture of hydrofluoric acid (HF) – the primary source of all fluorochemicals (the single largest consumer of fluorspar), with a wide range of applications including:
Fluorocarbons, e.g. refrigerant gases, propellants, etc
Electrical and electronic appliances
Metallurgical industry (extraction, manufacture and processing)
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