TIBITTI MINERAL INC ANNOUNCES SILICA SAND SALES TO BARBADOS
Tibiti Minerals Inc., a Canadian public company, with operations in Suriname and Guyana announces it has formed a joint venture with Black Bess Group Ltd of Barbados for sand deliveries from both Suriname and Guyana.
Annual volumes are projected at around 100,000 tons. Coral General Mining NV, Tibiti’s Suriname operation are expected to be exporting sand from February 2020 through it’s harbor facility, it is building, at Boskamp, Sar’ca. Sand to Barbados will start later this month from Tibiti’s Guyana operation and in February from its Suriname mine.
Tibiti believes that Surinam, will become a major producer of Silica sand globally, if it has its way. “Through the many mou’s Tibiti has, we project that within 12 months to be exporting over 100,000 tons a month” says Derek Lloyd, Director and Caribbean Sales Manager. In regard to Barbados Mr Lloyd replies,” we have been working on this for close to a year. It is important to have the right partner and Black Bess has been in this business for three generations, so we are confident that we have found the right partner”. Mr. Carlos Visser, Director and Country Manager for Tibiti in Suriname, adds” This will be a great foreign revenue earner for Suriname and create many spin-off jobs. We have so much of this sand here. Most people give it no value, but it is more valuable then gold”. “We can all live without gold, but we cannot live without the products that are created from silica… our phones, tv screens, glass bottles of all kinds, ceramic tiles, cosmetics and the list goes on and on. People laugh at us sometimes when we say what we are going to export sand, but when they realize what our savanna sand really is they are all amazed” he adds.
The Barbados contract is not the first for Tibiti in the Caribbean, but at least 6 other islands have entered into agreements with Tibiti for sand deliveries, including Puerto Rico, who is still recovering from its hurricane devastation. The list of projects is not a short one and one that proves that silica is shaping up to be a significant export resource for Suriname. In regard to revenues, the group does not want to comment other than, “it will be significant” replies Mr. Visser when asked the question. The demand for silica sand in Caricom is over 3 million tons per year and with regular hurricane storms, which are projected to increase in strength in the years to come, this volume will only increase. Add to that, the stepping away from single use plastics that are clogging up our oceans, drains and hinterland more and more companies are going back to reusable glass bottles, a product made from silica sand. The industry claims that the average person uses an estimated 14 tons of silica throughout their live. Adding 1 billion in population every 9 years globally only spells a healthy future for this industry in Suriname.
UNITEDNEWS
