Western Garnet looks toward India

With an eye to expanding globally, industrial minerals producer Western Garnet (TSE) has completed a review of two Indian deposits which contain industrial-grade almandine garnet.

The names of the deposits were not disclosed.

The first site contains about 1 million tonnes averaging 30% almandine. The second contains 700,000 tonnes.

Western Garnet will issue 112,500 shares of its stock for surface mining rights. The shares will be held in escrow and released in five equal annual instalments once production begins at the company’s new Indian processing facility.

Designing and permitting have already begun on the 90,000-tonne-per-year plant, which is scheduled for completion in mid-1996. In 1995, about 3,000 tonnes of Indian garnet will be shipped to the U.S. for processing at Western Garnet’s existing mill in Fernwood, Idaho.