Australian Bauxite: Sales and new opportunities continue to grow

<p>Australian Bauxite Ltd (ABx) is selling bauxite into fertiliser and cement markets at prices higher than the currently over-supplied metallurgical bauxite market. ABx's sales of Cement-Grade bauxite in 2016 to date total 42,005 tonnes. <br /><br />Fertiliser-grade bauxite sales are naturally seasonal and weather-sensitive but ABx has secured a sale of some 3,585 tonnes to date, with a further 1,500 tonnes to be dispatched to the customer before year-end. <br /><br />ABx has 90 tonnes of cement-grade bauxite undergoing testwork by a new customer with a planned large shipment of cement-grade bauxite scheduled for year-end. The mine product stockpile is currently 18,400 tonnes and growing daily for this cargo. The sale prices achieved for all sales is satisfactorily profitable and commercial-in-confidence. <br /><br />{googleAdsense}<br /><br />New Customers In Discussions &amp; Signs of Growth <br /><br />ABx is progressing with two joint offers with its more experienced marketing partner, RawMin to jointly ship large tonnages into both the Middle East and European markets for up to five years. ABx has also been approached by several large international cement manufacturers seeking bauxite with grades tailored to their specific needs. <br /><br />ABx's CEO Ian Levy commented; "As the Chinese market for metallurgical bauxite remains subdued, the cement and fertiliser markets are growing strongly. <br /><br />"ABx's recent announcement of a 5-fold increase in the resource tonnages at its Fingal Rail Project to 6.3 million tonnes shows that ABx can enter into long-term contracts with major cement-grade customers. <br /><br />"In recent months, several customers have approached ABx seeking metallurgical-grade bauxite for supply to several countries and ABx will work with Rawmin on these opportunities. <br /><br />In response to these early signs of a strengthening market, ABx has increased its testing of the TasTech technology that separates ABx's bauxite into its 3 product-components: metallurgical-grade, cement-grade and fertiliser-grade bauxite. Once the robustness of TasTech technology is confirmed, ABx will commence large-scale field trials."</p>