As I have said over the last year great company. IBIS ranked CSM...

As I have said over the last year great company. IBIS ranked CSM 9th best performing company over last 5 years.

Increasing production 60% starting January 05 to accomodate China growth new markets in India & East Europe.

Production facilities completed on time on budget.

Independent mine life report. Mine life rocketing to 40 years.

Nickel drilling should start early 05. I leave my superannuation in this one.

Here is today's ASX announcement in full
Consolidated Minerals Ltd (ASX: CSM, AIM: CNM, FSE: CMN) is set to achieve a 60% increase in its
manganese production during the first half of 2005 after today announcing the completion of its $6.5
million expansion project, underpinning a new long-term production level of 1 million tonnes per annum.
Managing Director Michael Kiernan said the expansion of Consolidated’s Woodie Woodie manganese
operations in Western Australian had been completed on time and on budget, with the newly expanded
production facilities to be fully operational January 2005.
“We have also announced today that we plan to ramp up our long-term production to 1mtpa, which will be
200,000tpa above our previously announced expansion to 800,000tpa – representing a 60% increase above
our current production level of 600,000tpa,” Kiernan said.
“The 1mtpa long-term production rate will be achieved through incremental increases in production to June
2005 and will not require any additional capital expenditure,” he added.
Kiernan said the decision to further expand production had been made in response to record levels of
demand for manganese in world markets, underpinned by the continued strength of the Chinese economy,
together with growing demand from markets such as India and Eastern Europe.
“The incremental expansion of Consolidated’s manganese business by two-thirds in 2005 will underpin a
very significant growth momentum for the Company moving into 2005, supported by our strongly
performing chromite business and developing growth opportunities in iron ore and nickel,” he added.
The feasibility study on the original expansion project demonstrated a payback period of less than 12
months, with the additional production expected to further shorten this capital payback timeframe.
Consolidated recently confirmed the longevity of the Woodie Woodie Project after announcing the results
of an independent technical exploration review highlighting the potential for further significant expected
increases to its resource base and mine life.
The report concluded that existing resources plus exploration potential in the immediate vicinity of the
Woodie Woodie plant would support a mine life of 14-19 years with a preferred project life of 16 years. The
report also concluded there is further potential in surrounding areas to deliver additional mine life of an
extra 10-20 years.
TOP-50 IBISWORLD RANKING IN THE BULLETIN
Consolidated was last week ranked as the 9th best performing company in Australia in an annual survey of
Australia’s top-50 companies by strategic business information provider IBISWorld published in The
Bulletin magazine. The ranking was based on a comparison of earnings with return on equity measured in
percentage terms and averaged over a 5-year period. The ranking was based on the achievement of a 5-year
average return on equity of 31.7% and net profits over the period of $65 million.