Gypsum industry news

US: Taishan Gypsum Company Limited, which is a 65% held subsidiary of China National Building Materials' (CNBM) 45.2%-owned subsidiary Beijing New Building Material Public Limited Company (BNBM), has refused to participate in a Judgment Debtor Examination in the United States District Court of Louisiana.

Taishan Gypsum has been ordered to pay US$15,000 in attorney's fees, US$40,000 as a penalty for contempt and has been banned from conducting any business in the US as Taishan Gypsum or via its affiliates or subsidiaries until or unless it participates in the judicial process. If it violates the injunction, it will pay a further penalty of 25% of the profits earned for the year of violation.

Czech Republic/Germany: Claudius Peters has been awarded a contract from a German-Czech consortium for the delivery of a gypsum calcining plant with a capacity of 12.5t/hour for installation at a Czech power plant. Commissioning is planned for the beginning of 2016.

The scope of supply comprises a HIC (Horizontal Impact Calciner) to calcine flue gas desulfurisation (FGD) gypsum which has been ordered for the first time. The HIC has especially been developed for the calcination of synthetic gypsum. The material is further conditioned in a homogeniser with a capacity of 12.5t/hour. The material will be transported in tankers to Germany for further processing. This is the sixth homogeniser supplied by Claudius Peters.

Australia: Gypsum Supplies has started loading from its newest pit at Lake Cowcowing, Western Australia.

Gypsum Supplies operates at Lake Hillman in Dalwallinu, Western Australia, where the family-run business has been supplying gypsum since 1978 to the industrial and agricultural markets.

"We are continuing to operate out of Kalannie as normal," said registered manager Daniel Nixon. "This pit is of very similar quality and analysis to the Kalannie pit." Naturally-occurring lake gypsum has a medium particle size and unlike synthetic gypsum, is not subject to rapid leaching from the soil profile and reportedly has superior spreading characteristics.

Gypsum is used in the agricultural industry for several reasons. It is used as a low-cost non-acidifying form of sulphur. Kalannie gypsum has 17.8% sulphur. Due to the high returns from growing canola in recent years, demand for gypsum as a low-cost form of sulphur has been strong.

Canada: Pan American Fertilizer Corp has signed a non-binding Letter of Intent to acquire Demetra Minerals, a Vancouver-based, privately-held junior fertiliser company developing agricultural gypsum products for the Cono Sur markets of Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia and Brazil.

In the proposed transaction, a new seven-member board of directors will be composed of three nominees from each of Pan American and Demetra plus a mutually agreed 7th independent director. Gregg Jensen of Demetra would be appointed as president and CEO, Sebastian Cattaneo as COO and Jeremy Wright as CFO. Robert Rennie would remain as the chairman. Pan American and Demetra would consolidate all assets and debts.

Canada/US: HIG Capital, a global private equity investment firm, has announced that its portfolio company Harrison Gypsum has acquired JA Jack & Sons, a miner and processor of limestone products. JA Jack owns and operates a quarry on Texada Island in British Columbia, Canada and ships limestone to a processing facility in Seattle, Washington, USA.

"We are excited about the strategic expansion of our operations into the Pacific Northwest," said Paul Harrington, CEO of Harrison Gypsum. "JA Jack not only allows us to grow outside our core markets of Oklahoma and Texas, but also significantly broadens our customer footprint and product portfolio within our expertise of mineral processing. JA Jack has had a long and successful history under the Jack family dating back to the 1940s and we will be sure to serve as great stewards of the business going forward."