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The Orca Quarry, which is permitted to produce 6.6 million tons of sand and gravel per year, is located on the east coast of northern Vancouver Island, 3.8 km west of Port McNeill, British Columbia. Construction of the quarry has been completed, and the quarry went into production on February 20, 2007. The Orca Quarry includes a dedicated ship loading facility capable of loading vessels with a capacity of up to 80,000 tons. Polaris Minerals Corporation owns 88% of the Orca Quarry with the remaining 12% participating interest held by the 'Namgis First Nation.
A long-term supply agreement for a portion of production has been secured for delivery of construction aggregates to Shamrock Materials Inc., a major ready-mix concrete producer in the San Francisco Bay area. The first Panamax freighter was loaded with sand and gravel from the Orca Quarry and departed for San Francisco on April 1, 2007.
Polaris has formed a Strategic Alliance with Cemex, US, Inc., a leading construction materials company. The agreement establishes Polaris as the exclusive supplier of marine transported aggregates to Cemex in California, Oregon and Washington. Cemex, in turn, becomes the exclusive distributor for Orca Quarry products in these markets except four counties in Northern California that fall under the Shamrock agreement. Additionally, Cemex and Polaris will partner in seeking the development of new port terminals within the three state area. |
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A supply agreement has also been secured with a ready-mix concrete producer in the lower mainland area of Vancouver. In this case, Orca Quarry products will be loaded from the quarry into barges provided by the customer, who is then responsible for transporating the barges to its off-loading facilities on the banks of the Fraser River. This is a five year agreement.
Polaris is engaged in on-going discussions to secure additional sales contracts.
Polaris has secured a long-term agreement with CSL International Inc., operator of the world's largest self-discharging shipping fleet, for bulk transportation of construction aggregates from the Orca Quarry to California. Initially products will be delivered to San Francisco Bay where a portion will be off-loaded onto barges provided by Shamrock, while the remainder will be taken into the Port of Richmond, San Francisco, where Polaris owns 70% of an associated marine aggregates receiving, storage and distribution terminal. Construction of the Richmond Terminal was completed late in 2007 and commercial operations began in the first quarter of 2008. |
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