POOCHERA KAOLIN PROJECT MOVES INTO MARKETING PHASE
Minotaur has started internationally marketing products from the Company’s wholly-owned Poochera kaolin project on the west coast of South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula. The decision, Minotaur says, takes Poochera, 50 kilometres east of Streaky Bay, into an “important new phase”.
It follows successful processing of raw material from Poochera through the Streaky Bay pilot plant. The project has five kaolin deposits, Carey’s Well, Condooringie Well, Karcultaby South, Tomney and Tootla.
The test program yielded a range of hydrous and calcined product samples from Carey’s Well for market evaluation.
Minotaur’s Managing Director, Mr Andrew Woskett said: “With those successful results in hand, Minotaur is now able to assess the commercial market’s appetite for high quality kaolin products from Carey’s Well, leading to identification of a project development partner with kaolin marketing and/or consumer credentials.
“The diversity of product options and variety of end users in the kaolin market means that introduction to the project of a partner with established distribution networks and a customer base could shorten Poochera’s development timeline. The target markets are those at the high value end of the market, commanding in excess of US$500 per tonne of refined product.
“Analyses of recent pilot plant output, including calcined kaolin produced from the kiln facilities installed earlier this year, further confirms the purity and exceptional brightness and whiteness of Carey’s Well kaolin and its potential for use in high value kaolin markets, such as paints, paper coatings, polymer indutries and special ceramics.”