Harvest Minerals Limited / Index: LSE / Epic: HMI / Sector: Mining
27 September 2017
Harvest Minerals Limited
("Harvest" or the "Company")
Registration of KPfértil as a Remineraliser
Harvest Minerals Limited, the AIM listed fertiliser development company, is pleased to announce that it has submitted an application to register its product, KPfértil, as a remineraliser to the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply ('MAPA'). The application is expected to be approved by the end of the year.
KPfértil, produced at the Company's Arapua Fertiliser Project in Brazil, is a multi-nutrient, slow-release fertiliser and remineraliser that is an ideal product to replace imported fertiliser. The Company believes that the product, which is a weathered potassium and phosphate rich lava, excavated at surface and crushed at site to produce a natural organic fertiliser, will gain significant market penetration on certification.
During the past year, the Company has focused on registering KPfértil as a remineraliser. To this end it has run multiple crop agronomy trials, conducted by four MAPA-approved organisations. As part of this process, on 4th September, Harvest visited MAPA at Barbacena, Minas Geras, and gave a presentation on KPfértil, highlighting the results of the chemical, physical and agronomic tests conducted to date. This was warmly received and the MAPA representative was impressed by the results and the quality of the product. As a result, the Company was urged to immediately start the process of registering KPfértil as a remineraliser. Subsequently, the Company submitted formal application to MAPA on 25th September. Harvest will provide any further results of the current test work to MAPA as requested and the entire registration process is expected to be complete by the end of 2017.
In tandem with the registration process, the Company remains focused on creating multiple sales channels through which to distribute and sell KPfértil, in addition to selling directly to end-users including Veloso Agropecuária Empreendimentos E Participações Ltda. ('Veloso') where the Company is conducting long-term trials with coffee. To this end, it is in advanced discussions with a large number of potential customers ranging from consumers, co-operatives, agricultural distributors and trade bodies. These efforts are expected to bear fruit imminently, with sales rapidly gaining traction following certification at the end of the year, in time for the next buying season.
Harvest's Executive Chairman, Brian McMaster, said, "We always knew that KPfértil would be a very good remineraliser and fertiliser, but we are still very pleased with the enthusiastic response we received from MAPA. Once the registration and certification of KPfértil is achieved, and on the basis farmers recognise the tangible economic benefits in introducing it to their fertiliser rotation, we believe KPfértil has the potential to replace significant amounts of conventional and more expensive fertilisers and become a staple product in the Minas Gerais agriculture belt in Brazil."
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.
For further information please visit www.harvestminerals.net or contact:
Harvest Minerals Limited |
Brian McMaster (Chairman) |
Tel: +61 8 9200 1847 |
Strand Hanson Limited (Nominated & Financial Adviser) |
James Spinney Ritchie Balmer |
Tel: +44 (0)20 7409 3494 |
Mirabaud Securities LLP (Joint Broker) |
Rory Scott |
Tel: +44 (0)20 7878 3360 |
Beaufort Securities Ltd (Joint Broker) |
Jon Belliss |
Tel: +44 (0)20 7382 8300 |
St Brides Partners Ltd |
Isabel de Salis |
Tel: +44 (0)20 7236 1177 |
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Olivia Vita |
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Notes:
Harvest Minerals (HMI.L) is a South American focused fertiliser Company targeting low cost, near term development projects. The Company's primary focus is the development of its 100% owned Arapua Fertiliser Project from which it produces its KPfértil product, a proven, multi-nutrient, slow release, organic fertiliser and remineraliser, which is produced from a weathered potassium and phosphate rich lava and offers many economic and agronomic benefits. Covering 14,946 hectares and located in the heart of the Brazilian agriculture belt in Minas Gerais, Arapua is a shallow, low cost mine with an indicated and inferred resource of 13.07Mt at 3.1% K2O and 2.49% P2O5. This resource translates into a mine life of over 100 years at a rate of 450k tonnes per annum and crucially is based on drilling just 6.7% of the known mineralisation, leaving significant upside potential. With a trial mining licence in place allowing Harvest to extract 50kt of product on a rolling basis, whilst the full mining licence application process is underway, and official registration of KPfértil as a remineraliser expected by the end of 2017, Harvest is ideally placed to address the significant demand for locally produced fertiliser in Brazil; Brazil has abundant agricultural land but lacks domestic fertiliser, with the country currently importing 90% of the potash it uses. Furthermore, the Brazilian government has set a target to be self-sufficient in fertilisers by 2020, creating significant market opportunity for Harvest and its KPfértil product.
The Company has four assets at various stages of development and continues to explore other opportunities that fit its investment criteria.
