May 5, 2010 - Andalusite Resources (Pty) Ltd, one of the two major andalusite producers in South Africa, has confirmed that its Maroeloesfontein mine in Limpopo province is running as normal again.
Andreas Pabst, the Andalusite Resources' sales and marketing director, explained that the company had to temporary slow down production in December and January last year after undergoing some technical problems while making installations and changes in its crusher plant.
These modifications, a "necessary precursor for further modifications at a later stage", will allow the company to sort out bottlenecks in the production plant as Andalusite Resources is working on doubling by 2012 its present output of 50,000 tpa andalusite (57% Al2O3) .
"The modifications affected us more than we had expected and we only ran at about 60-70% of capacity during that time," Pabst said.
"This took a bit longer than planned and we have a slight order backlog, but nothing that is not manageable. We never stopped production and are running normally. Our plans are still on track," he declared, adding that the company was experiencing good demand from the refractory raw material market.
Andalusite Resources, a relative newcomer to the andalusite industry, is the only alternative supplier of the South African material outside Imerys' subsidiary Damrec.
