100% plus - Announcement due, page-5

Hi Desall,

the company has intimated it is a very good deal and from what I gather a large major is Asia.

We can only guess if there is any cash up front however if there isn't I would assume funds will flow in after test work is complete. Test work doesn't usually take long.

This sounds like a valuable lucrative deal so discounted back should add cents to the value of APG.

I heard on the grapevine that Kronos is interested in looking at the material after testing.

If this is the case.....interesting !

For newbies who do not know who Kronos is see below.

Kronos Inc - Latest
* Q3 revenue $309.7 million
* Qtrly earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) was $94.7 million


Kronos Worldwide, Inc. (Kronos), incorporated on October 13, 1989, is a producer and marketer of titanium dioxide (TiO2) pigments, a base industrial product that is used in a range of applications. The Company, along with its distributors and agents, sells and provides technical services for its products in over 100 countries with sales in Europe and North America. The Company offers its customers a portfolio of products that include over 40 different TiO2 pigment grades under the Kronos brand, which provides a range of performance properties. It offers its products to domestic and international paint, plastics, decorative laminate and paper manufacturers. It ships TiO2 to its customers in either a powder or slurry form through rail, truck or ocean carrier. It sells and provides technical services for its products in three end-use markets, which include coatings, plastics and paper. It produces TiO2 in over two crystalline forms, which include rutile and anatase. Rutile TiO2 is manufactured using both a chloride production process and a sulfate production process, whereas anatase TiO2 is only produced using a sulfate production process.

The Company's TiO2 is used to provide opacity, durability, tinting strength and brightness in industrial coatings, as well as coatings for commercial and residential interiors and exteriors, automobiles, aircraft, machines, appliances, traffic paint and other special purpose coatings. The amount of TiO2 used in coatings varies depending on the opacity, color and quality desired. It produces TiO2 pigments for the optical and physical properties in plastics, including whiteness and opacity. TiO2 is used to provide opacity in items, such as containers and packaging materials, and vinyl products, such as windows, door profiles and siding. TiO2 also provides hiding power, neutral undertone, brightness and surface durability for housewares, appliances, toys, computer cases and food packages. TiO2 is used in some engineering plastics to help mask their undesirable natural color. TiO2 is also used in masterbatch, which is a concentrate of TiO2 and other additives and is used for TiO2 in the plastics end-use market. In masterbatch, the TiO2 is dispersed at high concentrations into a plastic resin and is then used by manufacturers of plastic containers, bottles, packaging and agricultural films.

The Company's TiO2 is used in the production of several types of paper, including laminate (decorative) paper, filled paper and coated paper to provide whiteness, brightness, opacity and color stability. Its primary focus is on the TiO2 grades used in paper laminates, where several layers of paper are laminated together using melamine resin under high temperature and pressure. Paper laminates are used to replace materials, such as wood and tile for such applications as counter tops, furniture and wallboard. TiO2 prevents the material from fading or changing color after prolonged exposure to sunlight and other weathering agents. It produces TiO2 for the opacity and hiding power of printing inks. Its TiO2 is also used in textile applications where TiO2 functions as an opacifying and delustering agent. In man-made fibers, such as rayon and polyester, TiO2 corrects an undesirable glossy and translucent appearance.

The Company produces purity sulfate process anatase TiO2 that is used to provide opacity, whiteness and brightness in a range of cosmetic and personal care products, such as skin cream, lipstick, eye shadow and toothpaste. Its TiO2 is also found in food products, such as candy and confectionaries, and in pet foods where it is used to obtain uniformity of color and appearance. In pharmaceuticals, its TiO2 is used commonly as a colorant in pill and capsule coatings, as well as in liquid medicines to provide uniformity of color and appearance. Kronos purified anatase grades meet the applicable requirements of the Cosmetics, Toiletries and Fragrances Association (CTFA), the United States Pharmacopoeia and British Pharmacopoeia (USP and BP) and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The Company owns and operates over two ilmenite mines in Norway and sells ilmenite ore to third parties. It manufactures and sells iron-based chemicals, which are co-products and processed co-products of the sulfate and chloride process TiO2 pigment production. These co-product chemicals are marketed through its Ecochem division and are primarily used as treatment and conditioning agents for industrial effluents and municipal wastewater, as well as in the manufacture of iron pigments, cement and agricultural products. It manufactures and sells titanium oxychloride and titanyl sulfate, which are side-stream specialty products from the production of TiO2. Titanium oxychloride is used in specialty applications in the formulation of pearlescent pigments, production of electroceramic capacitors for cell phones and other electronic devices. Titanyl sulfate productions are used in pearlescent pigments, natural gas pipe and other specialty applications. The Company operates over four TiO2 plants in Europe, including Leverkusen, Germany; Nordenham, Germany; Langerbrugge, Belgium, and Fredrikstad, Norway. In North America, it has a TiO2 plant in Varennes, Quebec, Canada. Its production capacity is approximately 555,000 metric tons. In addition, it operates a rutile slurry manufacturing plant in Lake Charles, Louisiana, which converts dry pigment manufactured for the Company at the Lake Charles TiO2 facility into a slurry form that is then shipped to customers.

The Company competes with The Chemours Company, National Titanium Dioxide Company Ltd., Huntsman Corporation and Tronox Incorporated.