Jan 21 2011
White Mountain Titanium Corporation ("White Mountain" or the "Company") (OTC Bulletin Board: WMTM) reports that, further to the news release of November 2, 2010, the Company has signed its third Letter of Intent off-take agreement ("LOI") with a major pigment producer for the supply of standard grade rutile concentrate from its proposed Cerro Blanco operation.
The terms of this latest LOI are substantially the same as those contained in two LOIs announced earlier and all three speak only to a portion of our planned tonnage and not price at this stage.
Price realizations for titanium feedstock suppliers are rising due to supply constraints and increasing demand for pigment and metal. In their Commodities Quarterly dated January 7, 2011, Credit Suisse comments, "A recent mineral conference left participants convinced prices were set to rise strongly, especially for titanium minerals. We have reviewed our pricing and while we maintain our long-term prices (sic of US$850), we no longer view these as the peak." The report goes on to say, "We expect the price for bulk supply of natural rutile to rise by US$140 in 1Q,11 with US$50/t successive rises in the following quarters, so rutile will finish the year at US$850/t, up US$300/t from the US$550/t price cap. We forecast more modest increases in 2012 with the price peaking at US$950/t at the end of the year, before gradually easing in 2013."
Further to information contained in an 8-K filing dated January 13, 2011, which refers to the completion of a US$3.5 million private placement financing, the Company is deploying these funds to advance its Cerro Blanco titanium project in Chile to final feasibility. The financing was lead by KirkCapital Asset Management with Chelsea Financial Services engaged as Broker-Dealer.
"I am delighted that we have signed a third LOI with a major pigment producer," said Michael Kurtanjek, the Company's President and CEO. "Broad industry support, positive supply fundamentals for titanium feedstock producers and a strong treasury provides us with the impetus and the means to advance Cerro Blanco to final feasibility as quickly as possible. Cerro Blanco can indeed become an accepted titanium feedstock supplier of rutile concentrate for both pigment and metal end uses."
Source: http://www.wmtcorp.com/