Exxaro was previously attempting to move into Australian iron...

Exxaro was previously attempting to move into Australian iron ore by taking over TTY, which failed as Noble Group won. They do mineral sands in the states. Wonder if they are interested in our zircon project.
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Exxaro to combine mineral sands operations with Tronox

By: Brindaveni Naidoo
26th September 2011

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) ? South African diversified miner Exxaro would combine its mineral sands operations with the operations of US-based pigment firm Tronox to create an integrated mine-to-processing-to-pigment producer, it announced on Monday.

The establishment of New Tronox, would see Exxaro disposing of its Namakwa Sands and KZN Sands mines and smelters, as well as its 50% stake in the Tiwest joint venture (JV) in Australia, for about 38.5% of the shares in the new company.

Tronox is Exxaro?s JV partner in Tiwest. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US in 2009, but has since emerged from bankruptcy proceedings with an enterprise value of $1.1-billion.

Exxaro would be the largest single shareholder in New Tronox, a newly formed Australian holding company, which it intends to list on a major exchange, such as the NYSE.

To comply with the requirements of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act and the Mining Charter, Exxaro will retain a direct 26% interest in the South African mineral sands operations until the end of the empowerment period, after which it could exchange the shares for an additional 3.2% stake in New Tronox.

Exxaro said the benefits of being an integrated mine-to-processing-to-pigment producer included creating further efficiencies, reducing risk due to involvement in two key value creating segments of the mineral sands value chain and providing a consistent grade of quality feedstock supply to the New Tronox pigment plants.

Further it would provide a stable earnings base that mitigates the cyclical nature of feedstock demand.

?The proposed transaction will create a global leader in this industry with a significant asset base that is expandable and low on the cost curve, ? Exarro explained.

The pro forma equity value of New Tronox is estimated at R27.8-billion based on the volume weighted average price at which Tronox?s shares traded for the 30 trading days to September 23.

This implies an Exxaro?s mineral sands operations equity value of R10.7- billion.

http://www.miningweekly.com/article/exxaro-to-combine-mineral-sands-operations-with-tronox-2011-09-26