zircon sale

Already known that they wexpect to finalise zircon sale by end of year...but this article puts a figure on it.

I took the risky route and bought the options today at 3.3c....short date to expiry June 06 with ex price 25c...Shares would be the safer bet...but i wil buy those on any weakness.

Australia's Olympia says eyes A$100 mln zircon sale

Wednesday November 2, 2005, 2:17 pm



SYDNEY, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Olympia Resources Ltd. (ASX: OLY.ax) is in talks to sell to a single customer about A$100 million ($74 million) worth of the corrosion-resistant mineral zircon from a mine it is developing in Australia, its managing director said.

Earlier on Wednesday, the company said it had agreed to sell all the titanium from the mine to U.S.-based DuPont Co. DD.N, worth between A$150 million to A$200 million over the eight-year life of its Keysbrook lode under development in far western Australia.

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Olympia's stock leapt 25 percent on the news, despite a weaker broader market.

Growing consumer demand for everything from dinner plates to house paint, particularly from China, has fuelled a surge in zircon prices.

Fellow Australian Iluka Resources Ltd. (ASX: ILU.ax) is the world's largest miner of zircon. Other producers include competitors Rio Tinto Ltd./Plc (ASX: RIO.ax) RIO.N and BHP Billiton Ltd./Plc. (ASX: BHP.ax) BLT.L.

"There is an approximately A$100 million zircon contract to be finalised," Peter Gazzard told Reuters, but declined to name the buyer.

Olympia plans to begin mining the lode late next year.

"Before the end of the year, we expect to have them signed," Gazzard said referring to the zircon sales contract, which also runs for eight years.

Zircon is named after the Arabic word zargun, derived from the Persian words zar, meaning gold and gun, meaning colour. It is widely used in tiling and porcelain as well as television screen glass. ($1=A$1.35)

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