London-based organic phosphate producer Keras Resources PLC reported on Nov. 5 that due to a capital shortfall, operations at the Spanish Fork processing plant in Utah have been temporarily halted until funding issues can be resolved.
Keras acquired the majority stake in the organic phosphate operation in 2020 (GM Aug. 14, 2020), having acquired a 51 percent stake in Salt Lake City-based Falcon Isle Holdings.
Keras said it is now pursuing its legal options, which could include restructuring as it is the major creditor of Falcon Isle. It said to date it has already provided approximately $625,000 in additional working capital to Falcon Isle, which has been funded from Keras’s cash reserves, and that it has offered to acquire additional equity in the project.
Keras added that it is now looking at outsourcing marketing with a solution in place for first-quarter 2022 sales. The company reported that it has completed its 2021 mining campaign from the Diamond Creek Mine, with 8,520 mt mined and delivered to a laydown area.
While the tonnage falls below the company’s goal of 10,000 mt, it said there was previous inventory available from the 2020 marketing campaign. Keras said sales since the commencement of marketing in June 2020 total 3,061 mt.
The Diamond Creek Mine is located in Utah in a region between Vernal and Spanish Fork. The J.R. Simplot Co. operates a phosphate mine north of Vernal that supplies its Rock Springs, Wyo., fertilizer complex with phosphate ore via a slurry pipeline.