CSR Limited subsidiary Rinker Materials Corporation (“Rinker”) has signed an agreement to make its first “bolt on” acquisition to the American Limestone Corporation (“ALC”) operation sit acquired last year, with the US$42 million plus working capital purchase offive hard rock quarries in Kentucky and Missouri, from Cemex, Inc. Closing onthe purchase is expected by end December.

The quarries are in regional areas of Kentucky and Missouri, and hold stong positions in the local markets. Average reserve life exceeds 30 years, totalannual production is 3.2 million tons and sales revenue is around US$19 millionper annum. The four Kentucky quarries are located in Bowling Green, Hartford and Bardstown. The Missouri quarry is located in Columbia.

The Kentucky quarries are in the centre of the state and are expected to benefit from the Department of Transport’s 1999-2004 road transport spending program, comprising 1300 projects and totalling US $4.6 billion.

The quarries will be integrated into the ALC operations, and various functions will be shared across the operations. The Kentucky quarry markets are contiguous with ALC markets, and there are a number of common customers.

“This bolt-on acquisition is in line with Rinker’s intention to extend the ALC operations, and provides a good level ofhigh quality reserves and strong positions in several regional markets, particularly in Kentucky,” said CSR managing director Peter Kirby.

The acquisition is expected to be shareholder value positive after the first full year.

The CSR Group is the world’s ninth largest heavy building materials group, with sales revenue of around A$ 6 billion, operating cash flow of over A$ 1 billion and around 15,000 employees and over 600 sites across the US, Australia, New Zealand and Asia.