Suppliers Roundup (June 06, 2005)

Boeing buys titanium powder

Raymor Industries (RAR-T) has reached a deal to supply aircraft manufacturer Boeing (ba-n) with titanium powder for use in the company’s aerospace division.

Raymor subsidiary AP&C Advanced Powders & Coatings produces a titanium powder known for its purity and roundness, which is considered ideal for aerospace engineering.

To make the powder, AP&C employs a plasma atomization process which was developed in the early 1990s with the help of Noranda (NRD-T) at Hydro-Quebec’s labs in Shawinigan, Que.

“This contract represents an important breakthrough in the aerospace sector for our metallic powders,” says Raymor President Stephane Robert. Annual revenue from powder sales is roughly $20 million, which could double if, as planned, a second processing reactor is added at the Montreal plant.

In November 2004, Raymor created AP&C to specialize in nanotechnology and advanced materials. Raymor holds the exclusive rights to more than 20 patents throughout the world.

Barclays finances Omagh equipment

London-based Barclays is loaning Galantas Gold (GAL-T) the cash to lease dump trucks and excavators for use at its Omagh open-pit gold property in Tyrone Cty., Northern Ireland.

The total transaction, executed through financing subsidiary Barclays Mercantile Business Finance, is worth $722,500.

Galatanas will provide a down payment and make 48 more monthly payments of $11,877, including interest. The miner retains the right to buy the equipment outright at the end of the 4-year deal.

The equipment is built by Sweden-based Volvo and includes an EC460BLC heavy hydraulic excavator, a BL71 backhoe-loader and two A25C 25-tonne dump trucks. The equipment will be shipped in early June.

Galantas is building Ireland’s first gold mine on an area measuring 189-sq.-km. The company says its Kearney deposit at Omagh contains 88,827 oz. gold, another 267,150 oz. are inferred. Galantas plans to use the gold in jewelry and market it as being genuinely Irish.

Barclays is one of the ten largest banks in the world by market cap.

Weda Bay to repay OM Group

Weda Bay Minerals (WDA-T) will buy out the remainder of Cleveland, Ohio-based OM Group‘s (OMG-N) exclusive rights to nickel and cobalt produced from Weda Bay’s operations on the island of Halmahera in Indonesia.

Under the deal, Weda Bay will pay OM Group US$2.5 million, as part of a loan repayment, before the end of September. Once the miner has completed project financing, Weda Bay will either repay OMG US$20 million or make annual payments equivalent to 1% of the net smelter return for 30 years of mine life.

In May 2000, OMG agreed to finance the Halmahera project in return for exclusive rights to all nickel and cobalt produced. At that time, OMG subscribed to more than 5 million Weda Bay shares worth $6.8 million and agreed to provide another US$18 million to finance a feasibility study. All money owing to OMG will be repaid, including interest.

Weda Bay hopes to receive more money from another partner now that nickel and cobalt prices are spiking.

“This allows Weda Bay to aggressively advance the outstanding Halmahera nickel cobalt project toward a bankable feasibility study and project finance. The company can now negotiate with other interested parties the rights to production from the company’s project,” says Weda Bay Chairman Michael Garvey. (John Lynch resigned as Weda Bay president, CEO and director effective May 31, 2005.)

Resources at Halmahera are estimated at 155 million tonnes grading 1.45% nickel and 0.09% cobalt, another 123 million tonnes grading 1.53% nickel and 0.08% cobalt are inferred.

The OM Group refines and processes base metals into specialty materials for a number of industries.

SNC-Lavalin signs on at Brisas

Gold Reserve (GRZ-T) has hired SNC-Lavalin‘s (SNC-T) engineering division to build and manage construction at the miner’s Brisas gold-copper project in southeastern Venezuela.

Montreal-based SNC-Lavalin previously built mining facilities at gold-copper operations in Peru, Chile, and Tanzania. SNC-Lavalin has offices in Caracas and Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela.

The first phase of development at Brisas involves creating a detailed engineering design. Procurement and construction will begin once environmental permitting and financing is completed.

The Brisas project contains 10.1 million ounces of gold and 1.29 billion lbs. copper. A January feasibility study at Brisas calls for processing ore at a rate of 70,000 tonnes per day for an average annual production of 486,000 oz. gold and 63 million lbs. copper.

Ausenco to study Calcatreu

Aquiline Resources (AQI-T) has hired Australian-based Ausenco to conduct a bankable feasibility study of the Calcatreu gold-silver project in Argentina.

The US$1-million study will involve 1,500 metres of drilling to determine that the slopes are sufficiently stable for open-pit mining.

Aquiline purchased Calcatreu from Newmont Mining (NEM-N) in July 2003. Micon International completed a positive scoping study and resource estimate in 2004, and an environmental impact assessment will be sumbitted this summer.

Master Blaster monitors blasts

Drillers’ Choice, a distributor of drilling and blasting equipment, will sell software designed by P-Wave, a technology firm in Reading, Pa.

The so-called Master Blaster software produces field reports and keeps inventory or explosives. (As a result of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, companies that use explosives in the U.S. must now keep records or face fines.)

“We recognize the importance of accurate, up-to-date record-keeping that satisfies national and state requirements,” says Drillers’ Choice President Allen Cellar.

Drillers’ Choice was founded in Marietta, Ga., in 1998.