Dale said that the JSE-listed Sallies had already succeeded in negotiating higher prices for its fluorspar and would be free of all low-price contracts by year-end.

He said that the Chinese prices of more than $400/t free on board (fob) were proxies for the South African fob price. The $400/t fob Chinese price compared with a price of $230/t this time last year.

“If those prices hold, we will be exposed to them,” Dale added.

Honeywell’s $6,8-million claim against Sallies had been reduced to $4,5-million, which meant that it was “no longer a company killer”, and Sallies had submitted a $3,8-million counterclaim to the final hearing that was scheduled to take place in Switzerland, on October 27.

Dale described the fluorspar market as being “very firm” with “positive” fundamentals.

“It’s a small market, but we have a very highly sought-after product at Witkop,” he told Mining Weekly.

Witkop’s fluorspar was consistently in excess of 97% fluorspar, which was the definition of acid-grade fluorspar, and the contaminant levels were low.

“It’s got a high appeal for the producers of hydrofluoric acid (HF),” Dale added.

The global market for acid-grade fluorspar totalled 4,5-million tons, with one-half traded and one-half contracted.

Sixty per cent of the HF made from acid-grade fluorspar was used to make flurochemicals for refrigerant gases and fluroplastics, and 30% to make aluminium trifluoride, which reduced power consumption in aluminium smelters.

“You cannot make aluminium cost effectively without it,” Dale said, adding that the rest of the HF went into niche markets like the growing uranium-enrichment market.

While reiterating the need to keep an opera- tional and marketing focus, Dale said that the company would also be looking at the merger-and-acquisition opportunities that came its way.

“We know that there are opportunities out there, and we have had a good few put on our table,” he said.

The company was close to permitting an opportunity in Zambia that contained metallurgical-grade fluorspar, and would also like to start exploring for fluorspar in Mozambique.

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