Toronto-PhosCan Chemical Corp., citing the global financial crisis, says it will be prudent and disciplined with respect to how it advances the Martison Phosphate Project, north of Hearst, Ont., so as to find the right balance between advancing the project and preserving cash. As a result, PhosCan does not expect production to begin at Martison in 2012. The company will continue to provide project development updates and will announce a new schedule to achieve production once it has been established. PhosCan says it has opted to defer several tasks related to the development of the project, including construction of the balance of the permanent road to access the proposed mine site and detailed project engineering. Among major achievements in 2008, PhosCan says it did purchase a portion of the land required for the proposed MAP granulation plant in Brandon, Manitoba, and has completed preliminary site layout for the plant. In 2009, it hopes to buy the balance of the land required for the plant as well as achieve rezoning, among other goals. In other news, PhosCan has set a shareholders meeting for Feb. 11, 2009. On the agenda is a shareholders’ rights plan previously adopted by the board of directors. Shareholders will also be asked to approve a reduction in the stated capital of the company’s common shares in order to enable the company to undertake a normal course issuer bid. “We have seen unprecedented change in financial markets and the fertilizer industry in the last several months,” said Stephen Case, PhosCan president and CEO. “However, PhosCan is well positioned with over $70 million of uncommitted cash, and therefore we view this as an opportunity to review a broad range of options that have the potential to enhance shareholder value.”
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