The short of it is, if Alcoa is forced to clean up the salt cake...

The short of it is, if Alcoa is forced to clean up the salt cake land fill then MHM has a real chance of securing the contract to process that stuff. MHM's existing processing facility is located very close to this landfill and is capable of processing salt cake.

Securing a contract to process the landfill has been MHM's aim for a long time. Prior announcements by the company indicate it would take years to process all the material on the site and so we are talking millions and millions of dollars.

Unfortunately Alcoa hasn't had any incentive to sign on the dotted line. Why spend money it doesn't have to?

So how does this clean up notice change things?

Paragraph 1.1.3 of the notice designates aluminium, sodium chloride and potassium chloride as "potential contaminants of concern". The notice does not explicitly refer to salt cake, but it refers to the "Moolap landfill".

The Moolap landfill is comprised of 5-7% aluminium, 30-55% sodium chloride and 15-30% potassium chloride. Salt cake is classified as toxic and hazardous waste in many jurisdictions.

Hopefully a chemist (or MHM) would be able to confirm what this notice potentially means for MHM.

It is interesting to note the companies recent announcement to postpone the sale of its Moolap facility. According to the announcement, there was significant interest in this asset and so the company felt it was prudent to hold onto it. I initially thought this announcement was nothing but a bluff-- to get a better price. But perhaps there is more substance to it than I would have dared to hope.

This company has burned many investors. The previous management is being taken to the court by MHM for a variety of allegations, including using the company to buy a luxury yacht.

I don't know about anyone else, but I feel that this EPA announcement extremely significant and may mark the beginning of a new chapter in this companies history. There is hope, in my view, that MHM will finally get the contract to clean up this toxic and hazardous landfill on the outskirts of a major population area (i.e. Victoria's second largest city; Geelong).