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The property is about 19kms from the provincial capital town of Bangued where the company has discovered a massive limestone formation in the early 1960’s. The limestone claim of the company, per Bureau of Mines Valuation Report, indicates a 200,000,000 Metric Tons of high-grade limestone reserve available for a commercial cement operation that is ideal for the production of high-end Portland cement.
However, the cost of procuring a cement plant at the present Peso-Dollar Exchange Rate proves to be onerous for the company. Management feels that to service a Dollar denominated loan for the acquisition of a cement manufacturing plant seems highly unintelligible and gravely incoherent with the present economic setting. Plan for such operation has been shelved temporarily till financing can be absolutely manageable and the project economically viable.
The Company has been very conservative in financing its operation since inception and hence decided that a cement operation should be taken in a two-tier phase. The more principal issue here should be cash flow for the company. Henceforth, management decided unanimously that the manufacture of other products from the limestone materials, such as Ground Calcium Carbonate (GCC), Precipitated Calcium Carbonate (PCC) and Hydrated Lime, be given utmost priority. These two unique products are straightforwardly achievable and more economically sound investment with higher and faster ROI’s.
Based on the recent market research performed by the company, most major industries use Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3) in some form or another in the processing of their products. In the Mining and Metallurgical Industries for example, Calcium Oxide (CaO) acts as a flux in smelting operations of steel manufacture. Also known as Lime, CaO is widely used to control the pH-level of copper ore flotation and gold-silver cyanidation processes. The Sugar Industry uses CaO as a reagent in purifying raw sugar and is extensively used in water purification and treatment processes. The Agricultural Industry dons CaO to reduce soil pH, correct pond acidity levels, as soil fertilizers and as key source of calcium in poultry feed production. Other industries utilizes CaCO3 or CaO as part of the raw materials in the manufacture of glass, cement, lime, paint pigments, plastics, rubber, linoleum, printing inks, magnesium insulation, glass solvents, asphalt, vinyl tiles, asphalt tiles, welding rods, casting sand, cleansers, detergents, soap, paper and pulp. Calcium Carbonate and its derivative CaO is also broadly used in the Pharmaceutical and Food & Beverage Industries as coagulants and additives in whitening products like creams and toothpastes and as food supplements like calcium tablets.
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