B.C. aggregates producer builds new terminal in California

Unloading at the Richmond Terminal on San Francisco Bay. The operation is dust-free and quiet, with easy access to the interstate highway system less than one kilometre away. — Photo courtesy Polaris Minerals Corporation

In June 2014, Polaris Minerals Corporation started building a new aggregates receiving terminal in the Port of Long Beach. The terminal, which is scheduled for completion at the end of 2014, will serve the Los Angeles basin market of southern California.

Vancouver, B.C.-based Polaris, which supplies construction aggregates to coastal markets in California and Hawaii, acquired the 3-hectare (eight-acre) site in 2010 under a long-term lease. It is the only permitted aggregates receiving terminal in the port.

The company, which owns an aggregates quarry in British Columbia, is building on its success in the northern California market.

“Polaris aggregates are the lowest-cost source of supply in the San Francisco area,” said Herb Wilson, director, president and CEO of the company. “That’s because the cost per ton-mile of moving aggregates 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometres) by water from B.C. to San Francisco is about the same as the cost of shipping aggregates 25 miles (40 kilometres) by truck on California highways. About 90 per cent of all concrete made in the city is made with Polaris aggregates.”

The new terminal will accommodate a fleet of large ocean-going, self-discharging vessels. The terminal will be operated by Eagle Rock Aggregates Inc., Polaris’s U.S. distribution subsidiary.

Polaris has developed an integrated logistical chain that links up, in addition to port terminals, mineral resources and contracted shipping. The arrangement enables Polaris to supply replacement aggregates in markets where local resources are running out and where seaborne supplies are an economically viable alternative.

Polaris’ aggregates resource is the Orca Quarry, located on the northeast coast of Vancouver Island. Polaris owns 88 per cent of Orca Sand & Gravel Ltd., with the remaining 12 per cent interest held by the ’Namgis First Nation.

Orca has been producing aggregate since 2007, when the first shipment of sand and gravel was made to San Francisco. The Orca Quarry is permitted to produce 6.6 million tons of sand and gravel per year, with a permitted life of 25 years. It has a ship-loading facility that can load ships and barges rapidly, including vessels with a capacity of 80,000 tons.

“The sand and gravel produced from Orca Quarry aggregates is of very high quality and exceeds all specification requirements for use in the United States—particularly in California—as well as in Canada,” said Wilson. “It has become well accepted in markets through its use in several major infrastructure projects, such as the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.”

The processing plant at the quarry produces three washed products: large (1 inch) gravel, small (0.5 inch) gravel, and concrete sand. Four large product stockpiles can hold up to 600,000 tons of inventory. A computer-controlled conveyor system enables automatic ship loading at a rate of up to 5,000 tons per hour.

Orca Quarry products are so strong that high-strength concrete with low cement content can be made from it, which gives it economic and performance advantages in many different applications.

Polaris is also the major shareholder in the Eagle Rock quarry project, a large permitted granite resource that is also on the coast of Vancouver Island.

Wilson said the project will be the second major phase of the company’s growth plan and will be complementary to the Orca Quarry. Eagle Rock will turn the granite in the quarry into high-quality aggregates that can be used to make asphalt and concrete.

Eagle Rock is owned jointly by Polaris (70 per cent) and local First Nations. Hupacasath and Ucluelet First Nations own 10 per cent each, with the remaining 10 per cent held in trust..

Wilson said construction of the Eagle Rock quarry will get off the ground when there is enough demand for its granite. In addition to supplying granite aggregate for road building, the quarry will be needed in the future to provide coarse aggregate to complement the sand-rich Orca Quarry production.

Richmond Terminal is the terminal in northern California for Orca Quarry products.

The Richmond terminal holds 60,000 tons of aggregate and loads trucks rapidly in a twin-line, computer-controlled loading station. — Photo courtesy Polaris Minerals Corporation

Eagle Rock Aggregates has owned and operated the terminal, which is located in the Port of Richmond on San Francisco Bay, since 2008. The terminal, which serves the northeastern San Francisco Bay area, is permitted to handle 1.5 million tons of construction aggregates per year.

Richmond Terminal features high-speed overhead conveyors and can receive product from large freighters at a maximum unloading rate of 5,000 tons per hour. The terminal’s enclosed building stores approximately 70,000 tons of material, and includes a truck-loading facility that can load customers’ trucks.

Polaris marketing strategy

Polaris has long-term supply agreements with Cemex and Shamrock Materials Inc. in California, and multi-year contracts with customers in Vancouver and Hawaii. In addition, the company is continuing to look for new markets, such as Alaska, where sales started in 2010.

As Polaris develops new terminals for shipping aggregates, the company plans either to extend present customer marketing rights or to seek new partnerships.

Polaris believes that as shipments from the Orca Quarry begin to approach six million tons per year, the Eagle Rock Quarry near Port Alberni on Vancouver Island will begin the production of granite. In this way, the company will be able to meet continuing demand for aggregate that is used to make concrete in the markets it already serves as well as enter the road construction market, which needs crushed rock rather than sand and gravel.

Polaris has long-term supply agreements with Cemex and Shamrock Materials Inc. in California, and multi-year contracts with customers in Vancouver and Hawaii. In addition, the company is continuing to look for new markets, such as Alaska, where sales started in 2010.

As Polaris develops new terminals for shipping aggregates, the company plans either to extend present customer marketing rights or to seek new partnerships.

Polaris believes that as shipments from the Orca Quarry begin to approach six million tons per year, the Eagle Rock Quarry near Port Alberni on Vancouver Island will begin the production of granite. In this way, the company will be able to meet continuing demand for aggregate that is used to make concrete in the markets it already serves as well as enter the road construction market, which needs crushed rock rather than sand and gravel.