Transportation Advantage

Transportation is a critical aspect of every industrial minerals project. Depending upon the mineral product, the location where it is produced and where the customer resides, transportation costs can be greater than the value of the mineral product being shipped.

There are no sodium feldspar, potassium feldspar, quartz or kaolin producers in the Western United States that can produce products of the purity/quality that extensive metallurgical testing has demonstrated i-minerals can. Numerous companies are bringing competing products in from Eastern Ontario, Canada or Georgia / North Carolina locations. With the minerals purchaser paying the transportation costs, it is the final landed cost net of transportation charges that is of primary importance in evaluating supply opportunities.

i-minerals Helmer – Bovill project offers potential customers significant transportation advantages and savings. The Great Northwest Railroad (GRNW) in Lewiston, Idaho, interchanges with both the BNSF and UP. The property is 50 miles from the deep water Port of Lewiston and the Snake - Columbia River system. Barging the containers to the Port of Portland opens up the Pacific Rim markets. The property is about 80 miles by highway from Interstate 90 presenting the entire Interstate network and backhaul opportunities.

i-mineralsis focused on the markets where its transportation advantage add up to savings for potential customers.