Good evening Wil,
You have raised a very important question and I will try to obtain an answer sometime next week. In the meantime, here is some answers to questions that appeared in a interview given by Dr. Long 8/11/97 to the Wall Street Transcript (Subscription info-212-668-9858)
What is the outlook for your industry?
....The four biggest markets are probably coal, including separating pyrite and ash from coal, heavy mineral sands, non-magnetic iron ores and tin. There are other smaller uses including gold recovery.(from tailings I would guess)....
Where do you see the greatest growth opportunity for Altair over the next three to five years?
Our greatest growth opportunity-interms of profit potential and stock appreciation is our Tenn. heavy minerals project. One of the things we've done to diversify a bit beyond licensing applications is to lease a heavy mineral sands property in western Tenn. This property has the potential to be a really significant source of titanium minerals. It was held and evaluated by several major companies, however, the property's fine particle size precluded recovery with then-available technology. Our trial runs indicate that the jig can efficiently recover these minerals which will mean we have turned a resource into a very valuable asset. THE GROWTH OPPORTUNITY IN THE STOCK PRICE WILL DEFINATELY BE BASED ON OUR RESULTS IN TENN. OVER THE NEXT YEAR TO A YEAR AND A HALF....In the long term,we expect the jigs to generate revenues from coal, minerals and environmental applications that may supercede the Tenn. heavy mineral and sand property.
What do you anticipate in terms of mergers,acquisitions or joint ventures and strategic alliances and how will these change your company over the next three to five years?
That's a good question. We've grappled with that a little bit. One of the things that seems most likely to change Altair is the developement of the Tenn. property. The cost to develop this project is well beyond our current capital structure. Typically junior mining companies in this situation look to joint venture with a major mining company. Our risk in approaching a major company is that the asset value may well be greater than Altair's market capitalization and a buy out of Altair may look very attractive. Nonetheless, we intend to go forward and probably joint venture the large properties such as Tenn., always remaining watchful for the shareholders best interest and maximization of asset value.
What is the distinct strength you want to convey to investors?
The centrifugal jig will allow us to recover materials that no one else can recover. That is why we believe our main strength is in the Tenn. heavy mineral sands property. As you know, all major mining companies were built aroumd a major minig property. For example, the Homestake Mine or Amax's Climax mine. If you have truly a big mineral asset, that's where it all begins.
The above is only a portion of the interview. I would suggest that you give a call to the company or their PR firm to obtain the full interview.
Obviously, this sector is not my specialty by training. If there are any geologists(Paul) or mining experts out there, we all would be appreciative in hearing your opinion on this company.
Sincerely,
Jas |
