Gulf Resources (GLF), the East African focused industrial mineral developer announces that it has extended its distribution contract (‘the Contract’) with leading UK based vermiculite distributor Dupré Minerals Ltd, to now cover the sole global sales and distribution rights of all ore mined at the Namekara Mine (‘Namekara’) which is located within the Company’s East African Vermiculite Project (‘EAV’).
Dupré is a long established UK company with its own manufacturing, storage and technical departments and is wholly owned by London listed Goodwin Plc (LON : GDWN). The original Contract which was announced in May 2010, covered distribution within the European Union, the Baltic States, Russia, Turkey and Israel.
Under the terms of the Contract, Dupré will provide expert market and product support from its world class facilities in the UK and provide dedicated sales and distribution staff experienced within the vermiculite market. In addition, Dupré is providing US$1 million to invest in additional equipment to assist in the production ramp up of Namekara to increase capacity moving forward.
It is the Company’s intention, having only recently recommissioned the Namekara Plant, to increase capacity from the current 15,000 tonnes per annum to 35,000 tonnes in the next two years. Based on current market conditions and expectations, the Company is currently reviewing the feasibility of increasing output to over 100,000 tonnes per annum within the next five years.
Chairman Scott Reid said, “This is a hugely important milestone with Dupré demonstrating their confidence in the long term future of Gulf and the produced ore from Namekara. The US$1 million that Dupré is providing Gulf will allow us to increase capacity ahead of our original estimations. We are therefore now in a position where we can look to target production of over 100,000 tonnes by 2015.”
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