‘It’s now or never on Pozzolan venture’

A Los Angeles-based real estate company that has teamed up with a local company to extract Pagan pozzolan is ready to invest $10 million into the joint venture.

But Bridgecreek International Corp. believes that the mining project may be a now-or-never matter, with the demand for construction materials expected to drop in a few years as a result of the government’s efforts to cool China’s overheating economy.

Bridgecreek chief executive officer John G. Carlson, in an interview Sunday, reiterated the company’s commitment to its partnership with JG Sablan Rock Quarry Inc.

The local company has had a mining permit for over a decade, but has never performed actual mining operations in Pagan due to insufficient capital and marketing capability.

Carlson said Bridgecreek will invest eight to ten million dollars, or more, to get the project finally moving.

He also reported that the firm, which is mainly in the real estate business, already has a “ready-made” buyer for Pagan’s pozzolan—a major construction company in Guangzhou, China.

The only issue now, he said, was how soon the cement additive could be delivered.

Carlson noted that the construction frenzy, particularly in China, had caused the value of building materials to increase significantly in the last couple of years. But with the Chinese government purposely trying to slow down its own economy and implementing a near-moratorium on new construction projects, the tremendous need for pozzolan will start decreasing in several years.

“We have a window of opportunity here, but it’s not going to be here forever. We have a buyer in China and they are willing to buy 100,000 to 200,000 metric tons per month. The question is how soon we can deliver,” Carlson said.

Bridgecreek hopes it can begin mining operations in the third quarter of this year, he said.

However, this will be impossible if the new joint venture company is required to perform a new environmental impact study, rather than simply updating the study conducted by JG Sablan 11 years ago.

An updated study is estimated to take 90-120 days, while a new study will take 12-18 months to complete, Carlson said.

“We don’t have to start from scratch; [JG Sablan] has done it before. But we are going to comply with all [environmental] rules and regulations,” he said.

Former Coastal Resources Management administrator Joaquin Villagomez is actively involved in the joint venture, he added.