Gypsum industry news

Australia: Minotaur Exploration is looking to sell its gypsum deposit at Lake Purdilla, Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. The mineral exploration company reports that the 87Mt deposit has an estimated purity of 91% gypsum consisting of gypsarenite and selenite. The site has been classified as an Inferred Resource based on previous drilling programmes.

Lake Purdilla is believed to be the largest known undeveloped gypsum resource in South Australia. Minotaur Exploration estimates that the site could be mined at a rate of 1Mt/yr for over 50 years. Gypsum from the site would be suitable for domestic use for wallboard production, cement manufacture and agricultural use. It could also be eligible for export to Southeast Asia.

Previously Minotaur Exploration agreed a sale worth US$4.8m for the Lake Purdilla gypsum deposit in late October 2014. The buyer was unnamed.

Australia: Minotaur has signed a conditional sale agreement on its gypsum deposit at Lake Purdilla on Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. Minotaur will receive US$4.8m in cash for the project, which is 5-15km south of Streaky Bay. The project has a target of 50-60Mt of gypsum. The sale is subject to the unnamed buyer conducting and being satisfied with a study into a port or trans-shipment of the gypsum, plus government transfer approvals.

Minotaur managing director Andrew Woskett said that the sale was part of the company's strategy to divest from industrial minerals and concentrate on copper, nickel and gold. "We've been trying to lighten our exposure to industrial minerals," said Woskett. "That's been proceeding for some time." The sale, which is scheduled to be completed by May 2015, would deliver more than the book value of the project. Earlier studies found that engineering work on a port was viable, but there were now more options, including barging and containerisation.