Imdex seeks buyer for vermiculite mine

摘要

The Perth, Western Australia based company Imdex Ltd is in the process of selling its two mining concerns, namely Austalia's only vermiculite producer, Australian Vermiculite Industries (AVI), and Mount Gould micaceous iron oxide mine.The company's managing director, Bernie Ridgeway told IM that Imdex wants to focus its business on the supply of products and services to the drilling industry as there has been uncertainty in the investment community about whether to regard it as a mining or industrial company.AVI commenced production in 1995, and now sells some 10,000 tpa of vermiculite for fire protection, building products, and horticultural markets. Vermiculite is produced from the Mud Tank vermiculite mine 160km northeast of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. This supplies 80 percent of the domestic market, with exports made to the Middle East, Europe, Japan, Taiwan and New Zealand. The remaining 20 percent of the Australian market is supplied by the world leader, Palabora Mining Co., from South Africa.