mal, Good post mate, but I'm sure we will hear more in the...

mal,

Good post mate, but I'm sure we will hear more in the quarterly report that will be out soon. Also you will need to include the garnet in your equation. The High Iron Ilmenite is actually a different product to Tio2 used in paint. The product will be used primarily as a specialist de-veining agent within the foundry industry and will command a premium to Tio2.

People should not get too tied up with running the numbers just yet, we all know it's a great story and its still unfolding and I can see people are chomping at the bit, but there are some very important points to remember that were highlighted by jnikau's excellent insight at the Noosa conference, just let me highlight the most important point of that post.

"The Spherichrome product they have is a globally unique product that sits well above generic Chromite and just below Zircon. Phil was clear that it was a replacement for zircon in some circumstances or could be blended with other materials to improve the quality and reduce costs. Importantly there is no official trading market for the product. It is more useful to view Spherichrome as a product rather than a commodity."

Foundry sand is around 5-10% of the mould cost, I know for some people that may seem strange, but that's a fact. The greatest cost is man hours (by a long way), the sand binder and power.

Now think about this.
Let's say Spherichrome cost 20%+ more that foundry grade and you needed enough for a 15kg mould. The price difference is neglible, right?

Now keep in the back of your mind the greatest costs are man hours, binder and power.

Now add in all the extra benefits that Spherichrome has over foundry grade.

- Doubling of the moulds tensile strength
- Uses considerably less binder
- It has even less clay content than Zircon
- Better finish due to the smaller GFN
- Less burn through due to the tigher grain structure
- Has less overburden for the foundrymen to grind out

Why wouldn't the foundries be using it as a stand alone product or even to mix it with their foundry grade?

Remember, this product has never been produced anywhere in the world and has been acknowledged by the industry as far better than foundry grade and equivalent to Zircon.

If Phil Garratt and his boys get their marketing campaign right (which I think they've already done), Spherichrome will never again be referenced to foundry grade.

...and that's the reason why they've given it a totally different name.

Pep
:)