Displaying items by tag: Limestone
US: The Federal Trade Commission has forced CRH to sell the Three Forks cement plant in Montana as part of its proposed acquisition of Ash Grove Cement. The plant and its quarry will be sold to Mexico’s Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua (GCC). Also under the settlement, because the CRH cement plant in Montana currently sells a significant amount of cement into Canada through two CRH terminals in Alberta, GCC will have the option to use those terminals for three years. CRH also has agreed to purchase, at GCC’s option, cement produced at the plant for distribution in Canada for up to three years.
The commissions ruled that the acquisition would harm competition in Montana, Nebraska and Kansas. Other divestments the Irish building materials company has agreed to include selling two sand-and-gravel plants, one sand-and-gravel pit, three limestone quarries and two hot-mix asphalt plants.
Following the agreed divestments, the FTC has issued its consent for CRH’s proposed acquisition of Ash Grove Cement. No further regulatory approvals are now outstanding for the transaction. The acquisition is expected to complete in June 2018. Ireland’s CRH agreed to buy Ash Grove Cement for US$3.5bn in mid-2017.
India: UltraTech Cement has won the Deora-Sitapuri-Udipyapura limestone mining block in Madhya Pradesh in a state auction. The block has a reserve of around 54Mt and it is spread over an area of 345 hectares. The company said that the block is near to the existing limestone quarry of its recently commissioned Dhar Cement plant. It added that the new limestone reserve would be useful in augmenting the capacity of the plant in the future.
Spain: Cementos Alfa, part of Cementos Portland Valderrivas Group, has received permission from the Ministry of Environment to expand its quarry. The approval also allows the cement producer to expand the area of its quarry, according to the El Diario Montañés newspaper. The quarry currently produces 0.6Mt/yr of limestone and marl that are used for clinker production at the neighbouring plant.
Jamaica: Caribbean Cement plans to raise the production of gypsum and limestone from its quarries. It intends to increase the size of its Halberstadt Gypsum Quarry to 200,000t/yr and build a new 800,000t/yr limestone quarry at Harbour Head, according to the Gleaner newspaper. Both quarries will be near to the cement producer’s plant at Rockfort in Kingston. The plan requires approval from the National Environment & Planning Agency.
Caribbean Cement says that the expansions to its quarrying operations are required to secure supply of these materials. It has not commented on the size of the investment required for the project. Its quarries are operated through a subsidiary, Jamaica Gypsum & Quarries.
Burkina Faso government signs limestone deal
28 February 2018Burkina Faso: The Ministry of Mines and Quarries has signed a limestone mining deal with Sahelian Mining, a subsidiary of Diamond Cement Burkina. The deal covers mineral rights for the Sahel region, according to the Sidwaya newspaper. The agreement is intended to diversify the country’s mineral production. Diamond Cement Burkina oprates a cement grinding plant at Ouagadougou.
Grupo Argos and Grupo Calidra inaugurate US$40m lime plant
23 February 2018Colombia: Grupo Argos and Mexico’s Grupo Calidra have inaugurated a new US$40m lime plant at Puerto Triunfo, Antioquia. The unit has a production capacity of 90,000t/yr, according to the El Colombiano newspaper. The plant is the only one in Colombia capable of producing pulverized limestone. Grupo Argos and Grupo Calidra will operate the plant under a joint venture named Caltek. The new plant is expected to create 100 jobs.
US: United States Lime & Minerals grew its sales revenue in 2017 due to higher business from its oil and gas services and industrial customers. Total revenue grew by 4% year-on-year to US$145m in 2017 from US$139m in 2016. The producer raised the price of its lime and limestone products in 2017.
“Demand for our lime and limestone products in the fourth quarter and full year 2017 remained steady. In addition to the St Clair replacement kiln project, we continue to seek innovative ways to enhance efficiencies at all of our facilities so we can compete in what remains a challenging pricing environment,” said Timothy W Byrne, president and chief executive officer of United States Lime & Minerals.
UltraTech Cement gets green nod for limestone mining project
31 January 2018India: The Environment Ministry has approved a US$9.4m opencast limestone mine project by UltraTech Cement in Bhavnagar district, Gujarat. The cement producer has proposed to lease a 632 hectare site with a production capacity of 2.07Mt/yr, according to the Press Trust of India. The mine has total mineral reserves of 63.6Mt with a lifespan of 32 years. Conditions of the approval include relocating 147 families and a group of local farmers.
Limestone from the mine will be used to support a proposed cement plant in Bhavnagar district. It will also be sent to UltraTech’s other plants in the state.
Nepal: The Department of Mines and Geology has technically disqualified Nigeria’s Dangote Cement from applying for three limestone mine licences in an open bidding process. The Investment Board Nepal (IBN) had approved the investment in 2013 before passing the application to the mining department, according to the Republica newspaper. Department deputy director general Ram Prasad Ghimire claimed that Dangote's proposals lacked essential documents on the required skilled manpower and it was not considered qualified for the next financial proposal.
Dangote Cement had applied for three mines: two in Dhading and one in Palpa. However, China’s Huaxin and United Cements recently won two limestone mining licences. Previously, Dangote Cement purchased a limestone mine in Makawanpur that was later found to be a substandard. The Nigerian company has also faced opposition from local producers who have described the country as being self-sufficient in cement.
Dangote Cement comments on BUA limestone dispute
19 December 2017Nigeria: Devakumar Edwin, the executive director of Dangote Cement, has accused BUA Group of illegally mining limestone at a site near Okene in the south of Kogi state. He made the comments at a press conference in response to public comments by Abdulsamad Rabiu, the chief executive officer (CEO) of BUA Group, that Dangote Cement had ‘sabotaged’ its operations, according to the This Day newspaper. The dispute between Dangote Cement, the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development and BUA is currently pending before the Federal High Court.
According to Edwin, Dangote Group first acquired an interest in the mining lease in 2014 after a previous company obtained the rights in 2007. However, BUA claimed access to the lease when it later purchased Edo Cement, a company also operating in the area. BUA Group responded to Edwin’s claims by stating that it does not have any operations in Okene, Kogi State where the disputed lease is located.