Great Western Minerals Group Ltd (fka GWG)

[Spartacus77]

FYI...

Great Western Minerals Group Signs Long Term Co-operation Agreement With Aichi Steel to Supply Rare Earth Alloys for World's Strongest Bonded Magnets
Apr. 27, 2011 (Marketwire Canada) --

SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN -- Great Western Minerals Group Ltd. ("GWMG" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:GWG)(OTCQX:GWMGF) announces that it has, through its wholly owned subsidiary Less Common Metals Limited ("LCM"), signed a long term Co-operation Agreement with Aichi Steel Corporation ("ASC") of Japan. ASC is a part of the Toyota Group of Companies.

LCM is a producer of Rare Earth metals and alloys to the worldwide magnet industry. It has been supplying ASC with neodymium iron boron ("NdFeB") alloys for more than 10 years. The alloys supplied have been consumed in the "MagFine" ™ facility of ASC where they have been used to manufacture an anisotropic magnet powder capable of producing the world's most powerful bonded magnets. To date more than 20 million magnets have been produced and successfully applied in components that combine drastic reductions in weight with high power efficiency for automotive and other applications.

ASC is a speciality steel producer with an electromagnetic division aimed at the development of new and proprietary magnetic materials. Within this division is the "MagFine" business which is undergoing a rapid expansion program, causing a doubling of the size of its current production facility in Seki, Japan. The Seki plant provides all the powder to the "MagFine" manufacturing sites which are located in Japan, Czech Republic, Korea and China. With further expansion planned throughout the world ASC expects volumes to grow significantly over the coming years.

Dr. Y. Honkura, Senior Managing Director at ASC, stated, "Given our ambitious plans for the expansion of our "MagFine" product, it will be critical, for us and our customers, to secure a reliable, non-Chinese source of Rare Earths and alloys on whom we can rely to supply the majority of our alloy requirements long into the future. GWMG will be a key factor in providing this security via its mine at Steenkampskraal in South Africa and its LCM facility in the United Kingdom. The signing of this Co-operation Agreement ensures ASC will benefit from a long term supply commitment securing alloy of the very highest quality for years to come."

The Co-operation Agreement allows for the long term supply of NdFeB alloys produced by LCM using Rare Earth oxides to be produced at the Steenkampskraal mine in South Africa. A doubling of the planned capacity at LCM is currently underway as the first phase of expansion to facilitate near term demand from ASC. A further phased expansion program has already been designed to accommodate the projected expansion of ASC alloy demand in future.

Jim Engdahl, CEO of GWMG said, "There has been a long term relationship between our companies and it is reassuring to know that ASC of the Toyota Motor Group will provide the cornerstone of demand for our Rare Earth products over the coming years. This Co-operation Agreement ensures a guaranteed market for an important segment of the Rare Earth alloys we produce. It also provides a level of stability to our Company that enables us to evaluate the expansion of our planned operations at Steenkampskraal in expectation of increasing demand".