12 November 1998: Australia“s Sons of Gwalia Ltd. said that it planned to sharply expand its tantalum division to potentially produce up to two million pounds of the rare metal.
The company told sha…
12 November 1998: Australia“s Sons of Gwalia Ltd. said that it planned to sharply expand its tantalum division to potentially produce up to two million pounds of the rare metal. The company told shareholders at its annual meeting that this expansion could reap annual turnover of up to A$ 120 million and earnings of A$ 15 million. At its expanded level, the company could be producing close to half of the world“s tantalum, a metal used in the computer and electronics sectors. It already accounts for about 25% of global output. Executive chairman Peter Lalor referred to the likely expansion in response to a question from the floor and later said the company had made a significant discovery of tantalite, the ore of tantalum, at the Wodgina project about 100 kilometres south of Port Hedland in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Lalor later told reporters that the discovery had caused him to have second thoughts about the recent merger of Sons of Gwalia, which is 75% dedicated to gold production, and Gwalia Consolidated Ltd, the group“s industrial minerals arm. “I had been expecting a question like that from a shareholder. In fact, I“ve been asking myself the same question,” he said, with the discovery raising questions about the capital allocations within the group. “We have started talks with our major customers, especially Cabot Corp and Bayer about them taking more tantalum. It“s not like gold, we have to arrange markets first.”