U.S. based Mabwe Minerals, a subsidiary of Raptor Resources Holdings, is actively developing what is being called a world-class deposit of barite at the company’s Dodge Mine site in Zimbabwe, southern Africa. Together with its Zimbabwe affiliate, Mabwe Mineral Zimbabwe (Private) Limited, Mabwe owns 100% of the mineral and metal rights to the property, covering just over 300 acres. Gravity mapping of the property indicates massive deposits of high-quality barite, of primary use as a weighting agent in the oil and gas drilling industry, but also used in paint, automotive, and medical applications.
The hydrothermal barite deposits are impressive because of their high percentage of barite. Samples of high-quality white barite scored over 97% pure BaSO4, with pink/brown barite samples scoring over 95%, and with virtually 100% of the barite being recoverable. By comparison, sedimentary based barite deposits located in Nevada are less than 50% recoverable, indicating sizable amounts of waste during the mining process. In addition, there are reported widespread occurrences of gossan deposits, often associated with gold, nickel, copper, and lead.
Mabwe has already secured a Master Supplier Agreement (MSA) with an established oil and gas drilling sector corporation, representing 3,000,000 metric tons of American Petroleum Institute (API) grade barite to be delivered at a rate of 220,000 metric tons per year. As the company expands its land transportation capacity to the Port of Beira, Mozambique, the company will expand mining production to support non-API customers, scheduled to begin white barite qualification upon delivery of samples in CY2013. All mining operations will be managed by WGB Kinsey & Company, a 4th generation mining and construction company in Zimbabwe since 1955. Kinsey is a minority-owned partner or Mabwe and Raptor.
For more information, visit www.RaptorResourcesHoldings.com
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