Atlantic Silica Inc.

The head office of the company is in Enfield, Nova Scotia and the mine is located at Cassidy Lake, near Sussex, New Brunswick. The mine operates on a full-time basis for eight months of the year, and relies on its stored inventory for the remaining winter months. A.S.I. operates a washing, screening and drying plant on the mine site which has a capacity of 140 metric tonnes per hour. Products required to be dry are processed and packaged at a rate of 30 to 50 tonnes per hour. The silica deposit, covered by one to twelve metres of overburden, is a 98 percent pure unconsolidated natural deposit of sand and gravel quartz. The deposit is approximately 1500 metres long by 600 metres wide. The material is consistent with depth to the extent of 16 metre drill holes. The depth of the deposit is unknown. Proven reserves are 18 million tonnes. Probable reserves are 50 million tonnes to 32 metres depth and 100 million tonnes to 65 metres ore depth. The plant was originally developed to supply the Quebec and Northern New Brunswick markets for silicon metal, silicon carbide and metallurgical flux. In 1989 a successful pilot test was conducted to prove the material was suitable for glass products (both container and flat glass). The company still hopes to become a regular supplier of glass sand. Since inception, A.S.I. has increasingly become a supplier of a wide variety of sand products including: blasting sands, nursery grits, golf course sand (both bunker and green drainage), filtration media, foundry sand, refractory sand, cement additives, concrete aggregate, traction sand (for roads, railways and airports), plaster sand and decorative sands including pebbles. CURRENT GEOGRAPHIC MARKETING ACTIVITY These products are shipped to a wide variety of locations throughout Eastern Canada and Northeastern U.S.A. All current shipping is by road transport which services the mine site. C.N. Rail is located withing 5 km of the plant and the deep water port of Saint John, New Brunswick open year round, is located 40 km away.