Verde Announces Successful Start-Up of Processing Plant
BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil, Aug. 01, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Verde AgriTech Plc (TSX: “NPK”) (OTCQB: “AMHPF”) ("Verde” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has commissioned and started up its processing plant.
The construction of Verde’s processing plant, in the municipality of São Gotardo, Minas Gerais, was on budget and on schedule (see June 18, 2018, press release). The production capacity of the plant is 45 tons per hour of Super Greensand®. It is operated by a crew of 10 professionals on an 8-hour shift that can be expanded as demand picks up. The current design of the plant allows it to operate in dry conditions only, during the dry season from April to October. The period of production coincides with the period of heightened demand for Verde’s production.
The cost of the production facility was initially budgeted at US$500 thousand. However, the total investment reached US$600 thousand because the Company advanced part of the ground work necessary for an expansion to reach the 600 thousand tons per annum capacity projected for Phase 1 in the pre-feasibility study (“PFS”).
The construction and commissioning of the processing plant derisks Verde’s production goals because it:
Tests mining and processing technologies, enabling optimization for future expansions;Allows for market validation of Super Greensand®, creating commercial links and pricing strategy;Makes full use of existing trial mining permit and environmental license. At the same time, the Company is advancing its request for the licenses needed for its expansions. Verde’s President & CEO, Cristiano Veloso commented: “We are proud to see the culmination of years of research and work in the form of Verde’s own processing plant. We are successfully working on the market growth for Super Greensand® in Brazil and abroad. As with any new product, there is plenty of marketing and information work to be done, two tasks to which we are devoting an increasing amount of effort. As we expand our markets, we will expand our production facility so that Verde can hit its full production potential in the near future.”
In November 27, 2017 the Company announced the results of its pre-feasibility study (“PFS”). The study shows a post-tax net present value discounted at 8% of US$1.98 billion and internal rate of return of 290%.
Truckers' strike impacts the fertilizer sector
Brazil underwent a strike and lockout of highways during the month of May, 2018. To appease the truckers’ demands, the government has heightened the price of freight through the establishment of obligatory price controls. In Brazil, the majority of fertilizers are imported (95% of potash is imported) and require road freight from port to the agricultural lands in the country’s Midwest. The higher freight prices will increase direct freight costs and significantly reduce the benefits of backhaul (i.e. whereby truckers who deliver grain at port then usually return with fertilizer to farmlands). Verde’s mine and plant, however, are located in the heartland of the main agricultural area, over 700km inland from the nearest port, therefore reducing freight costs to its end consumers.
About Verde AgriTech
Verde AgriTech promotes sustainable and profitable agriculture through the development of its Cerrado Verde Project. Cerrado Verde, located in the heart of Brazil’s largest agricultural market, is the source of a potassium-rich deposit from which the Company intends to produce solutions for crop nutrition, crop protection, soil improvement and increased sustainability.
For additional information please contact:
Cristiano Veloso, President & Chief Executive Officer
Tel: +55 (31) 3245 0205; Email: cv@verdeagritech.com
www.verdeagritech.com | www.supergreensand.com
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