Placing a value on the Table Mountain deposit is a difficult task. If the material was only worth one penny per ton, then the worth would be $5.25 million. If considering that the lowest price/use of this material was reported to be $16 per ton in 1983 (Lincoln County study), then the total estimated gross value of the indicated volume of nepheline syenite for industrial use would be $ 8.4 billion. Comparing that $16 per ton figure with other prices listed in this report is even more dramatic.
How about a low end formula? Dunkin Ogden, an expert on the appraisal of rock quarries currently in the employ of Vermont Marble Co., states that any dimensional rock quarry where the material is measured in place, has a value of 15¢ per cubic foot. Checking with others has shown this formula is considered to be a viable low-end figure and a non-metallic industry standard. While it is true that 15¢ per cubic foot is only $1.88 per ton, which certainty leaves a lot of room for production when compared with the $34 a ton price for irregular-shaped stone and rubble, this formula does return a healthy value of $49,218,750 total value for the workable deposit for building stone.
For a mind boggling total consider that finished tiles return something in the range of $500 per ton. Multiplying 525 million tons of material times $500 per ton caculates to $262 billion.
However, in keeping within the guidelines suggested by the U. S. Geological Survey that defines a mineral resource as: "A concentration of naturally occurring material in or on the earths crust in such form and amount that economic extraction of a commodity from the concentration is currently or potentially feasible."
In the PDF documentation section of this report is a fax cover sheet from Adolph Coors Company requesting a quote for nepheline syenite that suggests they use 23 tons per day in the manufacture of beer bottles. Twenty-three tons a day, times the historic low for soda ash of $61.00 per ton, bulk, carlot, FOB, adds to $353,556 per year for this one potential customer.
The cost for production is shaping up to be, through bids from turn-key operators to mine the open-pit material, crush same, and haul it off the mountain for grinding, is $15 per ton.
The cost to process the raw nepheline syenite into commercial grades some that fetch to $200-300 per ton is still under study. The ball park figure for process to glass grade seems to be not more than $10 per ton. Add $5 for company overhead for or a total of $30, which on the low end figure would leave $30 per ton, net, for sale for glass grade use.
As mentioned, in 1993 US consumption of soda ash was 10.1 million tons. If this operation could grab just 5% market share (550,000 tons) that $30 would compute to $16,500,000 net per year for soda ash production alone. Double the market share for soda ash to 1.1 million tons per year and it still would take 477 years to deplete this deposit.
Sherwin Williams asked for a quotation on filler material to Baltimore, MD; Garland, TX; Morrow, GA; Newark, NJ; and Oakland, CA, by truckload. What that contract would total is unknown. Or, what the roofing granule market would return when a new supply closer to manufacturing in the Far West was offered.
As the Canadian supplier of nepheline syenite for many years is switching operations to Norway, a number of potential customers have been calling to inquire when this property may be in production.
A custom miller in Nevada has shown that he can dial in any grade specification, it seems the only thing holding this property back is the capital needed to file permiting, and pay for initial mining/stockpiling of material.
NephelineSyenite.com, an HTML version of this site can be seen of the Lincoln County, Oregon nepheline syenite property for sale, lease or joint venture.