American Southwest Hldgs Inc (fka ASWT)

[PDC ™]

Hey spoke with guy in charge of accounting for ASWT heres the summary.

* Finishing up 8k and will be submitted later this month
* All filings up to date and will apply for OTCBB directly after new 8k is filed
* They have a market maker in New York who is going to be coming in shortly.
* CEO is currently in Australia
* They have already closed the acquistion and are in the process of doing studies in the Beenup area to set up the operations

*******************DD under Press Release

American Southwest Holdings acquires Australia's Metal Sands Ltd
The directors of American Southwest Holdings Inc. (Pink Sheets: ASWT - News; reapplying for listing on the OTCBB) ("American Southwest" or "the company") wish to advise that the company has acquired 100% of Metal Sands Ltd ("Metal Sands"), an unlisted Australian company exploring for heavy minerals - principally ilmenite and rutile - in the southwest of Western Australia.

ASW acquired Metal Sands through the issuance of shares of common stock of American Southwest. The company has also loaned Metal Sands working capital with which to continue its exploration endeavors.

Mineral resources held by Metal Sands contain ilmenite and rutile, minerals utilized as feedstocks for the global titanium industry and used primarily in the production of pigments for the paint, plastic and paper industries. Australia, the world's leading producer and largest global exporter of these products, produces approximately 35% of total production worldwide. Internationally, demand for pigment feedstocks continues to grow at a rate of more than 3% per annum. Indeed, increased global demand has created a steady upward trend in the sale price of these products, largely as a result of the rise in demand for the commodities in China.

Presently, too, there is a global shortage of zircon (used in advanced glass products such as TV screens and ceramic glazes), which can also be produced from Metal Sands' project areas. This shortage, fueled by ongoing demand from Chinese urbanization programs, has put pressure on pricing to the extent that the price of zircon increased by 30% during the last year. It is expected that demand for the product will remain strong well into the future.

Metal Sands holds a number of exploration licenses, including several in the Beenup area previously mined by BHP Minerals Pty Ltd. In terms of mineral resources held, Metal Sands ranks second in Australia behind Iluka Resources Ltd ("Iluka"), which is one of the world's leading producers of titanium minerals and its largest producer of zircon. In December 2004, Iluka had a market capitalization of AU$1.4 billion.

Currently, Metal Sands is undertaking a detailed drilling program to fully define the resource at its Governor Broome project. This should provide an initial resource and allow engineering studies to commence. At present, Metal Sands controls heavy metal resources of approximately 3,370 million tons at 2.38% ilmenite, with additional zircon credits (as defined by previous exploration on the part of BHP Minerals Pty Ltd and others). American Southwest intends to accelerate activity at Governor Broome in order to move the project forward to a full, bankable feasibility study, which is expected to be completed within two years. To achieve this, negotiations are already under way to raise additional working capital of up to $5,000,000.

As of today, American Southwest has 83,150,806 shares of common stock outstanding, including shares issued for the acquisition of Metal Sands. The company is current with its SEC filings and is moving toward reapplying for listing on the OTC Bulletin Board.

For further details, and to obtain an information memorandum, please contact our office at 4225 N. Brown Ave., Scottsdale, AZ 85251. The telephone number is 480-946-4006.

Contact:
American Southwest Holdings Inc., Scottsdale
Alan Doyle, 480-946-4006

Now the Key here is "Beenup" that is the acquisiton acquired that was previously mined by BHP Minerals

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and from USGS.GOV

BHP Titanium Minerals Pty. Ltd. commissioned its
mining operations at Beenup, Australia. Beenup’s design
production rate is 600,000 tons of ilmenite per year of which
approximately 50% will be processed at the BHP-Tinfos jointventure
slag operation in Tyssedal, Norway. The joint-venture is
expected to produce 200,000 tons per year of chloride-grade slag
and 40,000 tons per year of sulfate-grade slag. According to
BHP, Beenup reserves defined by the mine plan are estimated to
contain 12.4 million tons of ilmenite (BHP Minerals Global
Report, 1997).

http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/titanium/670497.pdf

1.2 Million alone in pollution equipment

Project: BHP Titanium
Location: Beenup, WA
Client: BHP Minerals
Scope of Work: Design, supply, install and commission dust collector systems in this separation plant, fluid bed dryer and day bins.
Value: $1,200,000
Key Features: A total of nine reverse pulse bag filters, including two large units constructed from Grade 316 Stainless Steel to operate at temperatures up to 160oC with high moisture levels servicing a total of 65 collection points. Total Air Volume - 224,780m3/hr.


http://www.hvac.com.au/pages/case_air_pollution_control.asp

Beenup
The Beenup mineral sands deposit (17 km north east of Augusta in the south west of Western Australia contains some 80 million tonnes of ilmenite. The ilmenite contains only about 50 per cent titanium dioxide, compared with up to about 62 per cent as mined elsewhere in the State.
The deposit was being developed by BHP Minerals as a joint venture with Tinfos Titan Iron of Norway. Some 600 000 tpa of ilmenite (and 20 000 tpa of zircon) will be exported (about one-half to the joint venture for smelting to chloride-grade rutile and the balance sold to sulfate plants).
The producers claimed the lower grades of ilmenite could not be economically converted to synthetic rutile in the current world status of cheap slagged ilmenite (with zero nucleide content).
The nucleide issue is that the mineral sands contain monazite which typically contains 6 per cent of the radioactive element thorium (and some uranium. In 1990, some 13 000 tonnes of monazite were produced but fell to zero due to competition from nucleide free sources such as China. There is interest in processing monazite by Rhone-Poulenc at Pinjarra.
Technical problems (inadequate settling that requires a tailings dam and highly abrasive orebody promoting premature equipment failure) held production to around 40 per cent of capacity. In March 1999, BHP announced it was closing the operations and would commence a soil remediation program. Analysts have speculated that it may eventually reopen. BHP is also selling its joint venture in Mozambique and its assets near Newcastle, NSW.


http://www.chemlink.com.au/titan_rutile.htm

Interesting Read …. http://www.carc.org/alerts/diamond_alert/july28.htm

Info on Australian Mining … http://www.econs.ecel.uwa.edu.au/econs/dpapers/DP1997/dp97131.pdf

Australia.—BHP Titanium Minerals Pty. Ltd. neared
completion of its Beenup heavy-mineral sands mine. The $200
million project, announced in December 1994, was expected to
begin production in early 1997. The mining and ilmenite
smelting project was expected to employ 120 people

http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/rare_earths/740496.pdf

This is my DD, due your own if you wish, not a recommendation to buy, etc... etc... etc... and IMO.

I am long and strong and should be some VERY interesting developments coming up!!! Todamoon!!!!