Cement Americas provides comprehensive coverage of the North and South American cement markets from raw material extraction to delivery and tranportation to end user.
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www.cementamericas.com • Winter 2015 • CEMENT AMERICAS 3 CEMENTSCOPE subcontinent to be announced in due course upon clearance by the Competition Commission of India. The current Executive Committees of Hol- cim and Lafarge remain in charge and ac- countable for the activity and operations of their respective groups until completion of the merger. Both groups continue to operate entirely separately as competitors until the merger is completed. The selection and nomination process for the rest of the leadership team is also well underway. Apart from the future Execu- tive Committee, the following direct re- ports of the future CEO have been selected under project mode: • Strategy and M&A;: Christof Haessig, currently in charge of corporate fi- nance and treasury at Holcim. • Communication, Public Affairs and Sustainable Development: Alexandra Rocca, currently in the same role at Lafarge. • Legal: Xavier Dedullen, currently in charge of legal and compliance at Holcim. • Health and Safety: Sapna Sood, cur- rently in the same role at Lafarge. Further top manager nominations will be announced in due time, noted Holcim and Lafarge in a released statement. Infrastructure Materials Optimistic for Blue Nose Project Due to recent trends in the U.S. cement market, Infrastructure Materials Corp. is optimistic that the company's Blue Nose Project will become a significant supplier of cement grade limestone to the west- ern United States. The project, which includes 40 mineral claims covering approximately 826 acres, is located 90 miles northeast of Las Vegas, and is situated 6-10 miles from a Union Pacific rail line. To date, Infrastructure Materials has completed three phases of drilling totaling nearly 30,000 ft., including grid drilling to pro- vide the data to calculate a block re- source. Initial resource estimates for Blue Nose consist of 168,349,800 tons of indicated and 23,097,000 tons of in- ferred cement grade limestone (con- tains CaO). In 2010, the company commissioned an independent market study on the United States cement market (prepared by Railroad Indus- tries Inc. of Reno, Nev.), which pre- sented several encouraging forecasts for cement demand growth over the balance of the decade and for the mar- ket's ability to absorb additional re- gional production. The following is a list of areas regional to the Blue Nose Project and their fore- cast cement demand growth by the year 2021: • Southern Utah along I-15 corridor: expected cement demand growth of 80 percent. • Inland Southern California: an aver- age growth rate of 31 percent. • Western Arizona: an average growth rate of 28 percent. • Inland Northern California: an aver- age growth rate of 28 percent. • Northern Utah and Boise metro areas: an average growth rate of 24 percent. • Southern Nevada: an average growth rate of 20 percent. "(Infrastructure Materials Corp.) has many opportunities to gain a portion of the growing market share due to reduced capacity from plant closures, environmental regulation effecting competitors' costs, and a marketing strategy that attracts customers," stated Railroad Industries in its study. "We note that the City of Las Vegas has no local cement supply. In the event that the Blue Nose Project be- gins production, it would be the clos- est supply of cement to Las Vegas in addition to being the newest and, potentially, most environmentally- friendly producer." Lafarge Plays Major Roll in Midtown Tunnel Project Lafarge NewCem slag cement and Ag- ilia self-consolidating concrete are playing a major role in the construction of the new Midtown Tunnel under the Elizabeth River in Hampton Roads, Va. When the tunnel opens in 2016, it will double traffic capacity between the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth, helping to alleviate traffic congestion as well as the resulting loss of millions of dollars in time, productivity and eco- nomic development. A Lafarge team is working at a large dry dock in Sparrows Point, Md., to build the 4,800-ft., two-lane tunnel's 11 reinforced concrete elements. Each element com- prises five sections requiring separate concrete pours – 55 in all. Two portable