UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

Form 10-K/A

 

 

(Mark One)

x	ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the Year ended December 31, 2012

OR

 

¨	TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from                      to                     

1-35573

(Commission file number)

 

 

TRONOX LIMITED

(ACN 153 348 111)

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

 

 

 

Western Australia, Australia		98-1026700
(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization)		(I.R.S. Employer Identification Number)

 

One Stamford Plaza 263 Tresser Boulevard, Suite 1100 Stamford, Connecticut 06901		1 Brodie Hall Drive Technology Park Bentley, Australia 6102

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (203) 705-3800

Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

Title of each class		Name of each exchange on which registered
Class A Ordinary Shares, par value $0.01 per share		New York Stock Exchange

Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

 

 

Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.    Yes  ¨    No  x

Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act.    Yes  ¨    No  x

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes  ¨    No  x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Website, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).    Yes  x    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of Registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.    ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

 

Large accelerated filer		¨		Accelerated filer		¨
Non-accelerated filer		x		Smaller reporting company		¨

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).    Yes  ¨    No  x

The aggregate market value of the ordinary shares held by non-affiliates of the Registrant as of June 30, 2012 was approximately $4,282,293,322.

As of January 31, 2013, there were 113,339,879 shares of the Registrant’s Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares outstanding.

Documents incorporated by reference: none.

 

 

 

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EXPLANATORY NOTE

The registrant is filing this Amendment No. 2 to Annual Report on Form 10-K, or this Amendment, to amend the Amendment No. 1 to the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012 (Commission File Number 001-35573), or the Form 10-K, as filed by the registrant with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, on August 1, 2013. The purpose of this Amendment is to (a) amend and restate Item 2 Property. to include in “Reporting of Ore Reserves and Mineral Resources” a table reflecting Tronox in-place reserves as of December 31, 2012 and (b) amend Item 9A. Controls and Procedures for the purpose of adding a conclusion sentence. In addition, as required by Rule 12b-15 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, new certifications by the registrant’s principal executive officer and principal financial officer are filed as exhibits to this Amendment.

No other changes have been made to the Form 10-K other than those described above. This Amendment does not reflect subsequent events occurring after the original filing date of the Form 10-K or modify or update in any way disclosures made in the Form 10-K.

 

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Item 2. Property

As of December 31, 2012, our significant properties consisted of the following:

 

•

Three TiO2 facilities located in Hamilton, Mississippi, Kwinana, Western Australia and Botlek, The Netherlands;

 

•

An EMD and boron facility located in Henderson, Nevada;

 

•

The KZN Sands mine, Namakwa Sands mine, Hillendale mine and Fairbreeze mine located in South Africa;

 

•

The Cooljarloo mine located in Western Australia;

 

•

Corporate offices located in Stamford, Connecticut; and

 

•

Research and development facilities located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

TiO2 and Electrolytic Facilities

Our TiO2 and electrolytic facilities consist of the physical assets necessary and appropriate to produce, distribute and supply our TiO2, electrolytic manganese dioxide, sodium chlorate, boron-based and other specialty chemicals and consist mainly of manufacturing and distribution facilities. We believe our properties are in good operating condition and are well maintained. Pursuant to separate financing agreements, substantially all of our U.S. properties are pledged or encumbered to support or otherwise provide the security for our indebtedness.

The following table summarizes our TiO₂ production facilities and production capacity (in gross tonnes per year) as of December 31, 2012, by location:

 

Facility

Production

TiO2 Capacity

Process

Property Owned/Leased

Facility Owned/Leased

Hamilton, Mississippi

TiO2,

225,000

Chloride

Owned

Owned

Kwinana, Western Australia

TiO2

150,000

Chloride

Owned

Owned

Botlek, the Netherlands

TiO2

90,000

Chloride

Leased

Owned

The following table summarizes our electrolytic facilities and production capacity (in gross tonnes per year) as of December 31, 2012, by location:

 

Facility		Product		Capacity				Property Owned/Leased		Facility Owned/Leased
Hamilton, Mississippi		Sodium chlorate			150,000			Owned		Owned
Henderson, Nevada		EMD			27,000			Leased		Owned
Henderson, Nevada		Boron products			525			Leased		Owned

Mineral Sands Licenses and Leases

We mine valuable heavy minerals (“VHM”), including ilmenite, rutile, leucoxene, zircon, at three separate operations; Namakwa Sands and KwaZulu-Natal (“KZN”) Sands in South Africa at and Cooljarloo in Western Australia. All three mining operations produce two principal commercial product lines: titanium minerals, such as ilmenite, natural rutile, and leucoxene, and zircon, a zirconium silicate mineral. The individual titanium minerals and zircon all have distinct commercial markets, and the titanium minerals are valuable as either mineral concentrates or as vertically integrated TiO₂ feedstock. Most or all of the ilmenite mined at Namakwa Sands or KZN Sands is intended for smelter feed for titanium slag production at Saldanha Bay and Empangeni, respectively, and ilmenite from Western Australia is internally consumed as synthetic rutile feed at the Chandala metallurgical complex. The synthetic rutile product from Chandala is vertically-integrated with our pigment plant in Kwinana, Western Australia, or it can be marketed as a separate commercial product. The internal valuation of titanium and zircon mineral production is dynamic and relatively complex in terms of our HMS mining-titanium feedstock-TiO₂ supply chain.

South Africa

Our primary South African mining rights are the Fairbreeze, Hillendale and Namakwa Sands mining rights.

The Fairbreeze Conversion mining right was an old order mining right in respect of heavy minerals (“HM”) ilmenite, rutile and zircon, which was converted to a new order right and executed by the South African Department of Mineral Resources (the “DMR”) on March 23, 2010 and is valid for a period of 25 years. The Fairbreeze C Extension mining right is a new order mining right in respect of HM ilmenite, rutile and zircon, executed by the DMR on April 9, 2009 and is valid for a period of 30 years.

The Hillendale mining right at KZN Sands was an old order mining right in respect of HM, which was converted to a new order mining right on March 23, 2010. The Hillendale mining right is valid for a period of 25 years, until 2035.

 

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The Hartebeestekom mining right at Namakwa Sands was an old order mining right in respect of HM, which was converted to a new order mining right and ceded by Anglo Operations Limited to TSA Sands on August 25, 2008. The Hartebeestekom mining right is valid for a period of 30 years, until 2038. The Rietfontein Conversion mining right at Namakwa Sands is an old order mining right in respect of HM, which was converted to a new order mining right and ceded by Anglo Operations Limited on August 25, 2008. The Rietfontein Conversion mining right is valid for a period of 30 years, until 2038.

An application for renewal of a mining right must be submitted within 60 working days prior to the mining right’s expiry date. A mining right may be renewed for further periods, each of which may not exceed 30 years. The Minister of Mineral Resources must grant a renewal of a mining right if the holder has complied with the South African Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (the “MPRDA”).

Australia

Our Australian mining leases are at Cooljarloo, Jurien and the Dongara Project mining rights. Our Australian operations also manage six exploration licenses at Cooljarloo West, for areas which are currently under active exploration.

There is one mining lease at Cooljarloo, which was granted on March 2, 1989 for a term of 21 years. The term was extended for an additional 10 years in 2010, and will expire on March 1, 2020 (unless the term is further extended).

Our Australian operations have three mining leases at Jurien, which were all granted in 1989 and which were all extended in 2010 for an additional 21 year term ending in 2031. No mining or processing activity has been conducted at Jurien since 1994.

Our Australian operations have six mining leases over the Dongara Project area. Our Australian operations are in the process of having a Public Environmental Review performed on the Dongara Project area in order to obtain approval to mine from the Environmental Protection Authority (Western Australia). Fourteen additional mining leases over the Dongara Project area are currently under application and are progressing through the future act process under the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) (“Native Title Act”) prior to being granted by the Department of Mines and Petroleum.

Our Australian operations are also governed by a State Agreement with the State of Western Australia, which was approved and ratified by the Parliament of Western Australia. State Agreements are contracts between the government of Western Australia and the proponents of major resources projects, and are ratified by an Act of the State Parliament. State Agreements specify the rights, obligations, terms and conditions for the development of major resources projects, and establish a framework for ongoing relations and cooperation between the State and the proponent of the project. The relevant State Agreement relating to our Australian operations is an agreement authorized and scheduled to the Mineral Sands (Cooljarloo) Mining and Processing Agreement Act 1988 (WA).

Reporting of Ore Reserves and Mineral Resources

The HM reserve estimates reported below are derived from Mineral Resource/Ore Reserve Statements (“RR Statements”) compiled and reviewed by professionals and technical specialists in Australia and South. The estimates provided are required to be in accordance with the mineral resource reporting standards developed by the Joint Ore Reserves Committee of The Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (the “JORC”), and SAMREC/SAMVAL Committee (“SSC”). The JORC is responsible for the Joint Ore Reserves Committee Code (2004) (the “JORC Code”) and the SSC is responsible for South African Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, effective July 2007 (the “SAMREC Code”).

The individual RR Statements contain detailed descriptions of the regional and deposit geology, technical data collection and validation, reserve computation and modeling techniques and other details related to the estimated mineral resource and ore reserve classifications. Each RR Statement is internally reviewed and authorized, and our Western Australia and South Africa operations routinely contract external consultants for audits of their resource and reserve estimates.

The stated Proven and Probable HM Reserve estimates in the table below are unchanged from the Proved and Probable Reserves in the three RR Statements. The HM Reserves classified in accordance with the definition standards of the JORC Code and SAMREC Code as “Proved Reserves” and “Probable Reserves” are consistent with the definitions of “Proven (Measured) Reserves” and “Probable (Indicated) Reserves” under U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Industry Guide 7, Description of Property by Issuers Engaged or to Be Engaged in Significant Mining Operations, (the “SEC Guide 7”). The reserve estimates have allowed for various modifying factors, such as mining dilution, mining and metallurgical recoveries, and legal and environmental permitting. The stated HM Reserves reflect a reasonable expectation that all necessary permits and approvals will be obtained for new mines at Fairbreeze, Dongara and Jurien, and that current mining authorizations will be maintained.

Mineral Reserves

At December 31, 2012, HM ore reserves totaled approximately 884 million tonnes of ore containing approximately 58 million tonnes of HM. Based on HM assemblage data, the in-place reserves contain approximately 25 million tonnes of ilmenite, approximately 2 million tonnes of rutile, approximately 2 million tonnes of leucoxene and approximately 5 million tonnes of zircon,

 

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for a total valuable HM content of approximately 34 million tonnes. The titanium minerals and zircon have been determined to be economically extractable, after allowing for mining, concentration, metallurgical, infrastructure, legal, environmental, marketing and other factors.

The HM reserves are the portions of mineral deposits that can be economically and legally extracted, as of December 31, 2012, from inventories of mineral deposits in South Africa and Western Australia. The reserves include remaining ore in our active mines in South Africa and Australia, as well as portions of other deposits controlled by us that have classified as reserves.

At December 31, 2012, our HM reserves were as follows:

 

Operation		Operating Unit Tronox %(1)		Location		Status		Reserves Category Proven or Probable		HM (Ore) Reserves (In million tonnes)				Grade (% THM)				Total HM (In thousand tonnes)				VHM (In thousand tonnes)				Total HM 2012-2011 (In thousand tonnes)
NAMAKWA SANDS		Mineral Sands (Pty) Ltd (74%)		Western Cape, South Africa		2 Open Cut mines		Proven			272				9.7	%			26,374				13,405
								Probable			160				7.1	%			11,429				5,899
								Total Namakwa			432				8.8	%			37,804				19,269				8,753
Hillendale		KZN Sands (74%)		KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa		Open Cut Hydraulic mine		Proven			3				5.0	%			144				103
								Probable			—								—				—
								Total			3				5.0	%			144				103
Fairbreeze		KZN Sands (74%)		KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa		Open Cut hydraulic mine under construction		Proved			114				7.7	%			8,840				6,756
								Probable			26				5.0	%			1,274				877
								Total			140				7.2	%			10,115				7,633
KZN SANDS		Tronox 74%		Republic of South Africa				Proved			117				7.7	%			8,984				6,858
								Probable			26				5.0	%			1,274				877
								Total KZN			143				7.2	%			10,258				7,735				2,462
Cooljarloo		Western Australia (100%)		Western Australia		Dredge Mine and Open Cut Mine		Proved			171				2.1	%			3,620				2,796
								Probable			58				2.1	%			1,234				1,008
								Total			229				2.1	%			4,854				3,804				(929	)
Dongara		Western Australia (100%)		Western Australia		Future Dry and/or Dredge Mine		Proved			65				5.1	%			3,324				2,291
								Probable			—								—				—
								Total			65				5.1	%			3,324				2,291				1,170
Jurien		Western Australia (100%)		Western Australia		Future mine		Proved			—
								Probable			16				7.9	%			1,240				906
								Total			16				7.9	%			1,240				906				—
WESTERN AUSTRALIA (WA)		Western Australia (100%)		Western Australia				Proved			236								6,944				5,087
								Probable			73								2,474				1,914
								Total WA			309								9,418				7,001				241
TOTAL PROVEN + PROBABLE RESERVES(2)											884								57,500				34,000				11,456

 

(1)

In connection with the Transaction, Exxaro retained an approximate 26% ownership in the South African operations that are port of the mineral sands business in order to comply with the Black Economic Empowerment legislation in South Africa. Additionally, in connection with the Transaction, the Company owns 100% of the operations formerly operated by the Tiwest joint venture.

The following table reflects HM reserves combined under Tronox Limited for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, and reflects both 100% of all HM reserves as well as the HM reserves directly attributable to Tronox (100% of the Australian reserves plus 74% of South African reserves).

 

Heavy Mineral Reserves (in thousands tonnes)		2012				2011				2010
Namakwa Sands			37,800				39,300				61,700
KZN Sands			10,300				10,500				10,800
South Africa			48,100				49,800				72,500
Cooljarloo			4,900				5,800				3,100
Dongara			3,300				2,200				2,200
Jurien			1,200				1,200				1,200
Australia			9,400				9,200				6,500
TOTAL (100%)			57,500				59,000				79,000
TOTAL ATTRIBUTABLE (74% RSA)			45,000				46,000				60,100

 

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The following table summarizes the proven and probable valuable heavy mineral composition of the total heavy minerals as of December 31, 2012:

 

		Total Ore Reserves (Mt)				Reserves % THM				Total In- place THM (Kt)				Reserves % VHM				VHM (Kt)				ILMENITE %				RUTILE %				LEUCOX -ENE %				ZIRCON %
Namakwa, Western Cape, RSA			432.2				8.8	%			37,804				4.5	%			19,269				34				2.5				5.4				9.0
Hillendale, KwaZulu-Natal, RSA			2.9				5.0	%			144				3.6	%			103				59				3.8				2.0				6.8
Fairbreeze, KwaZulu-Natal, RSA			139.6				7.2	%			10,115				5.5	%			7,633				62				3.4				1.7				8.4
Cooljarloo, Western Australia			228.7				2.1	%			4,854				1.7	%			3,804				61				5.0				2.8				9.7
Dongara, Western Australia			64.6				5.1	%			3,324				3.5	%			2,291				49				6.1				2.8				11.2
Jurien, Western Australia			15.7				7.9	%			1,240				5.8	%			906				54				6.8				2.3				10.0
Total Ore Reserves (Mt), THM (Kt) and VHM (Kt)			883.7								57,479								34,006

Notations:

All reserves are reported at 100% without respect to Tronox share of South African reserves

Total Reserves (ROM) includes Proven and Probable Reserves in Mt (million metric tonnes)

THM = Total Heavy Minerals of approx density 2.96 gm/cm³ or greater. Kt = kilotons (000’s metric tonnes)

VHM = Valuable Heavy Minerals: ilmenite (TiFeO₃), leucoxene (TiFe_1-xO₃), rutile (TiO₂) and zircon (ZrSiO₄). Kt = kilotons (000’s metric tonnes)

Reserve percentages of ilmenite, rutile, leucoxene and zircon are in-place, calculated as % of THM assemblage

Tronox’s mining operations and mineral resource specialists determine ore reserves from the Company’s inventory of mineralized material by applying realistically-assumed geological, mining, metallurgical, environmental, infrastructure, legal, marketing, social, and governmental factors to life-of-mine and economic models. Those and all other applicable modifying factors were considered in sufficient detail to demonstrate that extraction is economically viable as of December 31, 2012.

Geology and Heavy Mineral Deposits

Heavy mineral placer deposits are detrital accumulations of HM, which are resistant to mechanical erosion, have densities of 2.96 gm/cm³ or greater, have been liberated by weathering and erosion, and are transported by fluvial, marine or wind to depositional “traps” suitable for accumulation and concentration of economic minerals. Titanium-zirconium deposits, which are the type mined or contemplated to be mined in Australia and South Africa, belong to a class of ore deposit known as heavy mineral sands (“HMS”) deposits. HMS deposits are characterized by natural concentrations of titanium minerals (ilmenite, natural rutile, and leucoxene) and zircon, a zirconium silicate mineral, with variable concentrations of accessory heavy minerals such as garnet, monazite, staurolite and other resistate minerals, as they are resistant to chemical weathering. The three operating regions of our mineral sands business segment are located in coastal plains of the Atlantic Ocean of western South Africa and the Indian Ocean of eastern South Africa, and Western Australia. Past geologic environments favored accumulations of heavy minerals in these HMS provinces due to: 1) weathering and erosion to liberate titanium minerals and zircon from source rock terranes; 2) fluvial transport of those and other heavy minerals to contemporary coastlines (“paleo-shorelines”); and 3) concentration of the valuable HM in coastal paleo-environments as alluvial deposits in beach strandlines, proximal offshore or estuarine paleo-environments, or in sand dune complexes.

The following is a description of our three principal regions where we explore for and mine heavy mineral deposits.

Namakwa Sands

Namakwa Sands extracts heavy minerals from two open-cut mines on the semi-arid Atlantic coastal plain (Namaqualand Coastal Plain) near Brand se Baai, 92 kilometers northwest of Vredendal and approximately 350 kilometers north of Cape Town in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. The Namakwa HM reserves are hosted by aeolian (dune) sands accumulated during Late

 

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Miocene-Pliocene (approximately 6 million to 2.5 million years before present) and underlying Miocene-age strandline HM placers. The mineralized alluvial deposits overlie basement rocks of the Namaqualand Metamorphic Complex and other units of probable Mid-Proterozoic age (1.6 billion to 900 million years) that provided the heavy minerals to the surficial transportation and depositional environments that resulted in accumulations of heavy minerals. The Namakwa deposit is genetically related to repetitive cycles of weathering, erosion, fluvial transport, marine transgression/regression cycles, HM deposition in strandlines that favored northwest-facing J-shaped bays, and re-distribution and winnowing of sands by winds and topography into a heavy mineral-enriched aeolian dune complex.

The general dimensions of the overall Namakwa deposit are approximately 15 kilometers in a northeasterly direction, with a width of up to four km and variable thicknesses of mineralization. The bulk of the Namakwa HM reserves are hosted by a compound paleo-dune complex composed of sand re-worked from a massive amount of sediment supply to the coastal environment and accumulated in a large trangressive dune field. The Orange Feldspathic Sand (“OFS”) unit dominates the dune complex and is subdivided into two economic domains based on valuable heavy mineral grades, driven by zircon, and a non-economic domain. Mining conditions in the OFS can be adversely affected by layers of “duripan,” generally discontinuous layers of with hard cement composed of varying proportions of iron, calcium, magnesium and silica, believed to be remobilized by episodic chemical weathering cycles and possibly microbial activity and re-deposited in the OFS. An overlying unit of much less volume than the OFS, but of high economic significance, is a sheet-like unit of aeolian sand known as the Red Aeolian Sand (“RAS”). Deposition of the RAS was apparently controlled fluvial bends, topography, and a prevailing south-southwesterly wind. The RAS is characterized by relatively high HM grades and less difficult mining conditions, compared to OFS mineralization. HM concentrations in strandlines and foredunes in the modern shoreline environment are termed Recent Emergent Terraces (“RET”). The mineralized RET are not included in the Namakwa HM Reserves, as they are currently within an environmental exclusion zone; however, they are included in the mineral resource inventory and may be mineable in the future, subject to mining.

A younger mineralized unit, the RAS of probable Pleistocene age, forms a sheet-like layer with generally higher HM grades over an area of approximately 17,000 hectares (42,000 acres), not all of which is classified as ore reserves. Zircon contributes significantly to Namakwa Sands’ internal valuation and ore reserve calculations.

The Namakwa HM reserves are excavated by two “dry” mining operations. The Namakwa West mine involves stripping of near-surface RAS ore, followed by dry mining of the deeper, internally-variable OFS ore. The Namakwa East mine is a relatively shallow strip mine exclusively in the RAS ore. Current mine production exceeds 20 million tonnes per annum with the West mining rate about twice that of the East mine. Both the West and East Namakwa mines have a dedicated principal concentration plant (“PCP”) with gravity and magnetic separation equipment to produce HM concentrates as feed to a secondary concentration plant (“SCP”) at the Brand se Baai mine site. Magnetic and non-magnetic heavy mineral concentrate (“HMC”) from the SCP are then transported by truck approximately 50 kilometers south to Namakwa’s dry mineral separation plant at Koekenaap, 35 kilometers west of Vredendal. The Koekenaap mineral separation plant (“MSP”) has flexibility to produce multiple commercial mineral concentrates, including at least two zircon concentrates and a high-titanium concentrate composed of rutile and leucoxene, and an ilmenite concentrate for feedstock to a dual DC-arc electric furnace smelter at Saldanha for production of titanium slag and pig iron. All mineral, iron and titanium-slag products are exported from the port of Saldanha Bay, approximately 150 kilometers north of Cape Town.

KZN Sands

KZN Sands operations include the nearly-depleted Hillendale mine and the planned Fairbreeze mine, currently under construction, 20 kilometers and 45 kilometers, respectively, southwest of Richards Bay, KZN Province, South Africa.

Both the Hillendale and Fairbreeze HMS deposits are hosted by paleo-dunes of the Pliocene Berea Red Sands, fine-grained sand and silt whose distinctive red coloration is interpreted to result from oxidation and degradation of iron-bearing minerals. The Fairbreeze “deposit” is actually a NNE-trend of deposits ~2 km inland from the present coastline extending about 12 km southward from the town of Mtunzini. Dissection of the Fairbreeze dune topography by local rivers and streams has led to division of the deposit into five discrete bodies, mapped as Fairbreeze A, B, C, C-ext, and D. The coastal plain is about 25 kilometers wide at Empangeni, south of Richards Bay and the site of the central processing complex (“CPC”) of KZN Sands, then narrows rapidly southward to about 6 km at Hillendale and less than 2 km at Fairbreeze, south of the village of Mtunzine. The Hillendale dune system is of probable Pliocene age, and the Fairbreeze deposit is hosted by a younger, transgressive dune complex believed to have formed during the Pleistocene-Holocene.

Hydraulic mining techniques employed successfully at the Hillendale mine will be used at Fairbreeze. The ore is washed via high-pressure hydraulic mining into a sump from which the ore slurry is pumped to a nearby land-based primary wet plant (“PWP”) for production of a HMC. The HMC is transported by truck to the Empangeni CPC approximately 20 km from the Hillendale mine and 40 km from the future Fairbreeze mine. The CPC consists of two sections: a MSP for production of ilmenite, rutile and zircon mineral concentrates, and a dual electric-arc furnace smelter for production of titanium slag and pig iron.

 

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Western Australia

The Cooljarloo-Jurien HM district is in an approximately 30 km wide strip of the northern Swan Coastal Plain about 165-210 kilometers north of Perth, and includes the Cooljarloo HMS mine, the Jurien heavy mineral reserve and several active exploration projects. The Dongara project, where a dry mining definitive feasibility study has been completed and a dredge mining definitive feasibility study is in progress, is approximately 350 km north of Perth, or about 150 km north of the Cooljarloo-Jurien region. The mining and exploration tenure and activities were formerly conducted by the Tiwest Joint Venture. The Swan Coastal Plain is underlain by sediments of the Perth Basin, including Jurassic, Cretaceous, and early Tertiary sequences of various lithologies and a veneer of Late-Tertiary and Quaternary sediments of varying proportions of sand, silt, clay and limestone, mostly of Pliocene to Pleistocene age in the Cooljarloo area west of the Gingin Scarp. The Gingin and related Darling Scarp further south near Perth are escarpments caused by the Darling Fault, which basically forms the boundary between rocks of the Yilgarn Craton to the east and the sedimentary units of the Perth Basin to the west in the Cooljarloo area.

Detrital heavy minerals of the Perth Basin include the ilmenite, rutile and zircon of the Eneabba, Cooljarloo, Capel and other well-known heavy mineral sands districts. The HM were liberated from igneous and metamorphic rocks of the Yilgarn Craton by weathering, and transported by paleo-drainages to the coast where they were concentrated by combinations of longshore drift and wave action. High-grade HMS deposits of probable Pliocene age formed near the base of a regional escarpment known as the Gingin Scarp in the North Perth Basin (Eneabba, Cooljarloo) and as the Darling and Whicher Scarps of the South Perth Basin (Yoganup, Waroona). Younger shorelines within HM deposits associated with Quaternary shorelines occur west of these deposits in the Capel district south of Perth, but these deposits in the North Perth Basin (Jurien, Dongara) have been less exploited due to overburden composed of “calc-arenite” (limestone) and younger sands.

The Cooljarloo mine exploits a complex of HM-mineralized, unconsolidated sediments deposited as beach strandlines, and in near-shore marine or estuarine environments west of the Gingin Scarp during Late Tertiary Period or Late Tertiary-Quaternary Period. The Cooljarloo mining operation consists of a two-dredge mine feeding ore to a floating concentrator, or “wet plant,” and a dry mining operation feeding ore to a land-based concentration plant. Production rates vary, but approximately 750,000 tonnes of HMC from approximately 20 million tonnes of ore at Cooljarloo are transported approximately 100 kilometers south via truck to the Chandala mineral separation plant/synthetic rutile metallurgical complex at Muchea, where the HMC is separated into its VHM components: ilmenite, natural rutile, leucoxene and zircon. Ilmenite is fed to the Chandala synthetic rutile facility, and the other VHM concentrates are transported to Bunbury or other Western Australia ports for sale.

The Cooljarloo mine has been in continuous operation since 1989, and average HM grades are decreasing. Tronox is actively exploring other HM deposits south, west and northwest of the Cooljarloo mine. The strategic goal of our Western Australia Resource Technology and Development Group is to sustain HMC production and ilmenite feed to the Chandala and plants beyond 2020. A dry-mining definitive feasibility study (“DFS”) and a dredge-mining prefeasibility study have been completed at Dongara, and a dredge-mining DFS is currently underway.

Both Jurien and Dongara are younger deposits of probable Quaternary age with locally very high HM grades. The Jurien HM reserves are overlain by “calc-arenite,” (limestone). Historical mining and exploration of the Jurien deposit in the 1970s by junior miner Black Sands and Western Mining Corporation generated much of the data utilized in past reserve statements by Tronox, but the data base and resource modeling of the deposit have been recently updated during 2011-2012 to feasibility-equivalent, wherein the prior HM reserve estimate has been validated. The Dongara deposit complex consists of eight or more Quaternary-age strandline HM deposits which characteristically narrow widths, elongated north-south, and relative high-grade cores with lower-grade margins. Tronox intends to systematically develop the Dongara deposits as the Cooljarloo ore body becomes progressively depleted from 2014 onward.

Tenure

Exploration and mining activities in Australia and South Africa are governed by the legal and regulatory framework of the respective national and state or provincial authorities. Mineral exploration and development in Western Australia is regulated and administered by the Western Australia Department of Mines and Petroleum under the Mining Act 1978. The Mining Act contains provisions for a variety of tenements including prospecting, exploration, retention and other licenses, and mining leases. Mining lease applications are subject to multiple levels of review, including public comment before mineral title is granted, and mining approvals are subject to environmental and other regulatory approvals.

We own mining rights for 29,691 hectares (73,368 acres) in Western Australia, in addition to a mining lease grant covering 9,745 hectares (24,080 acres) under the Western Australia State Agreement Act at the Cooljarloo mine. Twenty mining leases covering 17,890 hectares (44,207 acres) have been granted at Dongara, six of which were in a public comment period at December 31, 2012 as part of the environmental approval process. Three mining leases covering 2,056 hectares (5,080 acres) at Jurien are in effect until 2021, and applications for extension are anticipated.

The MPRDA went into effect in 2004 and is the primary regulatory framework legislation in South Africa. The MPRDA is regulated through the Department of Mineral Resources (the “DMR”) and Minister of Mining and establishes the State of South Africa as the custodian of all mineral resources, effectively transferring privately-owned mineral rights to the State and requiring prior

 

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owners or grantees of mineral rights to apply to the DMR for “new order” rights over the previously-held mineral tenements. In addition to the MPRDA other statutes regulating mining-related activities include the National Environmental Management Act 107 (“NEMA”), and National Water Act 36 (“NWA”), and regulatory bodies include the DMR and the South African Department of Environmental Affairs, as well as agencies at the provincial level, such as the Western Cape Dept of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning and the KZN Dept of Environmental Affairs. Prospecting Rights, Mining Rights and Mining Authorities in South Africa may be independent of surface rights, and land-use rentals and access rights agreements are required in some cases.

 

Operation or Property		Coverage (Ha)				Mining Tenure
Cooljarloo Mine			9,745			W.A. State Agreement Act, active mine
Dongara			17,890			Aggregate 20 Mining Leases, all granted but in EPA approval phase
Jurien			2,056			Aggregate 3 Mining Leases granted; will require EPA approvals to mine
Namakwa Sands			18,626			Aggregate of >20 mining authorizations at Brand se Baai mining complex
KZN Sands Hillendale-Fairbreeze			5,749			Aggregate of seven Mining Rights granted for Hillendale, Fairbreeze and extensions in Empangeni-Mtunzine area. All converted to new order mining rights.

ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

Attached as exhibits to this Form 10-K/A are certifications of our chief executive officer and principal financial officer. Rule 13a-14 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (Exchange Act), requires that we include these certifications with this report. This Controls and Procedures section includes information concerning the disclosure controls and procedures referred to in the certifications. You should read this section in conjunction with the certifications.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures. We maintain “disclosure controls and procedures,” as Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act defines such term. We have designed these controls and procedures to reasonably assure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules and forms. We have also designed our disclosure controls to provide reasonable assurance that such information is accumulated and communicated to our senior management, including the chief executive officer and principal financial officer, as appropriate, to allow them to make timely decisions regarding our required disclosures.

We evaluate the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures on at least a quarterly basis. A number of key components in our internal control system assist us in these evaluations. Since the company’s inception, we have had a disclosure committee. The committee meets regularly and includes input from our senior management, general counsel, and internal audit staff. This committee is charged with considering and evaluating the materiality of information and reviewing the company’s disclosure obligations on a timely basis. Our internal audit department also evaluates components of our internal controls on an ongoing basis. To assist in its evaluations, the internal audit staff identifies, documents, and tests our controls and procedures. Our intent is to maintain disclosure controls and procedures as dynamic processes that change as our business and working environments change. Based upon our evaluation, our chief executive officer and principal financial officer have concluded that as of December 31, 2012, our disclosure controls and procedures are effective.

Limitations on the Effectiveness of Controls and Procedures. In designing and evaluating our disclosure controls and procedures, we recognized that disclosure controls and procedures, no matter how well conceived and well operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the disclosure controls and procedures are met. Additionally, in designing disclosure controls and procedures, our management necessarily was required to apply its judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of possible disclosure controls and procedures. We have also designed our disclosure controls and procedures based in part upon assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions.

Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. There was no change in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during our latest fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

Evaluation of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. This annual report does not include a report of management’s assessment regarding internal control over financial reporting or an attestation report of the company’s registered public accounting firm due to a transition period established by rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission for newly public companies.

 

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Exhibit Index

 

Exhibit No.
31.1*		Rule 13a-14(a) Certification of Thomas Casey.
31.2*		Rule 13a-14(a) Certification of Kevin V. Mahoney.

 

*	Each document marked with an asterisk is filed herewith.

 

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Stamford, State of Connecticut, on this 19th day of August 2013.

 

 

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