13 November 1997: The Australian mining company Gwalia said recently that it was considering expanding its Wodgina tantalum mine and Kemerton silica mine in Western Australia.
Gwalia Consolidated sai…
13 November 1997: The Australian mining company Gwalia said recently that it was considering expanding its Wodgina tantalum mine and Kemerton silica mine in Western Australia. Gwalia Consolidated said in a statement that tantalum production from its Greenbushes mine for the quarter to 30 September was a record 196,414 pounds and that sales totalled 172,949 pounds. Combined with production from its Wodgina tantalum mine, the company said it had achieved record sales of 206,790 pounds for the quarter. Silica sand production for the quarter was also a record: 101,649 tonnes. The expansion of the Kemerton mine being considered by the company would boost production from 400,000 tonnes per annum to 700,000 tonnes per annum. Sales and production of lithium minerals were 4,762 tonnes and 19,721 tonnes respectively for the quarter. The company has budgeted to sell approximately 65,000 tonnes of lithium minerals this financial year, down from a record 95,000 tonnes last financial year. The company announced a consolidated net operating profit of A$ 8.977 million for the 1996/1997 financial year. The consolidated net profit was achieved on a 24% increase in sales revenues over the previous year to A$ 67.43 million. Gwalia does not, however, anticipate current year earnings to match those reported in the 1996/1997 financial year due to the downturn in its forecasts for the lithium division.