World Minerals' headquarters is located in leased premises of approximately 13,000 square feet in Santa Barbara, California. On July 31, 1991, a holding company subsidiary of Alleghany acquired all of Manville Corporation's worldwide non-asbestos industrial minerals business (including the Lompoc, Guadalajara and No Agua mining operations discussed below) for a total purchase price of approximately $144.0 million. The acquired industrial minerals business is now conducted principally through World Minerals. The significant mining operations of Celite (constituting an aggregate of 77.0 percent of the annual diatomite produced) and Harborlite (constituting an aggregate of 89.0 percent of the annual perlite produced) are described below.
Celite believes that its proven and probable recoverable reserves of diatomaceous earth at the Quincy property are approximately 3.1 million tons, based on estimates by the mining and exploration personnel employed by Celite.
Celite extracted, through surface mining, a total of approximately 105,000 tons of diatomaceous earth from the Guadalajara property in 2004 and, on average, has extracted a total of approximately 88,000 tons of diatomaceous earth from this property each year for the past three years, or approximately 16.0 percent of its total diatomaceous earth production. This diatomaceous earth is processed at the Guadalajara production facility which has approximately 116,000 square feet of space and has a rated capacity in excess of 60,000 tons annually. The plant and equipment are maintained by a full-time maintenance department and operate on regular replacement and repair cycles. The power sources of the mining operations are diesel oil and electricity.
Harborlite extracted, through surface mining, a total of approximately 302,000 tons of perlite from the No Agua property in 2004 and, on average, has extracted a total of approximately 250,000 tons of perlite from this property each year for the past three years, or approximately 54.0 percent of its total perlite production. This perlite is crushed and screened at the No Agua facility which has approximately 41,000 square feet of space and has a rated capacity in excess of 250,000 tons annually. The plant and equipment are fully maintained by a full-time maintenance department and operate on regular replacement and repair cycles. The power sources are diesel fuel and electricity.
Harborlite believes that its proven and probable recoverable reserves of perlite at the No Agua property are approximately 31.6 million tons, based on estimates by the mining and exploration personnel employed by Harborlite.
Dikili, Turkey. Harborlite's second largest mine in terms of tonnage produced is located at Izmir-Cannakkale Karayolli 110 km. Kaynarca Mevkii, 35880 Dikili-Izmir, near Dikili, Turkey and is accessed via public roads and highways. The Dikili property and mine were acquired in 1995 for a purchase price of $4.0 million from EGE Endustri Mineralleri Sanayi A.S. The mine, which is an open-pit mine developed by Harborlite, has been in continuous operation for more than nine years. The Dikili property consists of approximately 20 square kilometers, of which approximately 10 acres is owned and the remainder is utilized pursuant to government granted mineral concessions. The mine site is located on the leased portion and the plant on the owned portion. The terms of the government granted concessions range from ten to thirty years and are renewable provided that Harborlite makes annual concession fee payments or production royalty payments where applicable and provides required production reports to the mining agency of the Turkish government.
Harborlite extracted, through surface mining, a total of approximately 95,000 tons of perlite from the Dikili property in 2004 and, on average, has extracted a total of approximately 100,000 tons of perlite from this property each year for the past three years, or approximately 23.0 percent of its total perlite production. This perlite is crushed and screened at the Dikili facility which has approximately 63,000 square feet of space and has a rated capacity in excess of 115,000 tons annually. The plant and equipment are maintained by a full-time maintenance department and operate on regular replacement and repair cycles. The power sources are diesel, olive seeds and electricity.
Harborlite extracted, through surface mining, a total of approximately 59,000 tons of perlite from the Superior property in 2004 and, on average, has extracted a total of approximately 55,000 tons of perlite from this property each year for the past three years, or approximately 12.0 percent of its total perlite production. This perlite is crushed and screened at the Superior facility which has approximately 7,000 square feet of space and has a rated capacity in excess of 70,000 tons annually. The plant and equipment are fully maintained by a full-time maintenance department and operate on regular replacement and repair cycles. The power sources are natural gas and electricity.
The information required by this Item 6 is incorporated by reference from page 46 of Alleghany's Annual Report to Stockholders for the year 2004, filed as Exhibit 13 hereto.
The information required by this Item 7 is incorporated by reference from pages 10 through 20, 22 through 44, 48 through 51 and 54 of Alleghany's Annual Report to Stockholders for the year 2004, filed as Exhibit 13 hereto.