All posts by hlancey@bloomberg.net

BCI Minerals Secures Funds for Mardie Project

Australia, Canada, News Briefs, Sulfate of Potash

Australian junior salt and sulfate of potash (SOP) producer BCI Minerals Ltd., West Perth, has secured commitments totaling A$981 million for the “salt first” portion of the Mardie Salt and Potash Project in Western Australia.

The Syndicated Facility Agreement (SFA) was signed with Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF), Export Finance Australia (EFA), Export Development Canada (EDC), Westpac Banking and Industrial, and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC).

“The signing of the Syndicated Facility Agreement is a significant achievement in securing the funding needed to deliver BCI’s Mardie Project,” said BCI Managing Director David Boshoff. “The ongoing support shown by this diversified lender group indicates strong confidence and trust in the project over the long term.”

The SFA delivers a total of A$981 million of debt finance to fund the Mardie salt development. The finance facilities are fully underpinned by forecasted salt revenues only, in what BCI describes as the “salt-first” phase of the project. BCI is targeting to satisfy the remaining conditions for “salt-first” in the first quarter of 2024, with the first drawdown expected by mid-2024.

BCI reported in August that the project would produce an estimated 5.35 million mt/y of salt, with the first shipment now expected in 2026 (GM Sept. 1, p. 27).

Debt funding for the SOP plant is expected to progress during 2024 following the completion of further design and cost development, subject also to several provisions in the SFA, including lender approval. BCI is targeting an estimated SOP production at Mardie of some 140,000 mt/y, with the first shipment in mid-2027.

Trigg Advances SOP Test Work

Australia, News Briefs, Sulfate of Potash

Junior miner Trigg Minerals, Subiaco, Western Australia, announced on Dec. 13 that it plans to begin test work for the Lake Throssell sulfate of potash (SOP) project in Western Australia in January 2024. It expects results to be disclosed by the end of the first quarter.

Non-Executive Chairman Timothy Morrison said the successful completion of the test work would enable Trigg to extend its program to a next-level pilot stage and ultimately have the potential to allow it to expand into the construction of a demonstration-scale SOP production plant.

“Solving pre-processing salt homogeneity issues is integral to unlocking the value of existing SOP-in-brines production, and we hope our test work can offer a solution to the process issues that have caused major problems for potential SOP producers,” he said, noting that administrators have recently been appointed for Australian Potash Corp. (GM Dec. 8, p. 1), highlighting the pressure that processing and recovery issues are placing on participants in the Western Australia SOP industry.

Rwanda Inaugurates Fertilizer Plant

Africa, News Briefs

Rwanda inaugurated a 100,000 mt/y ($19.2 million) fertilizer blending plant on Dec. 20, according to All Africa Global Media, citing the country’s Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI).

The plant, in the Bugesera Special Economic Zone located in Bugesera District, Eastern Province, is expected to surpass the country’s annual demand of 85,000 mt, which is currently satisfied by imports. The project is a joint venture under the Rwanda Fertiliser Co. (RFC), which involves OCP Group and the Government of Rwanda.

Erdogan Seeks to Revive Black Sea Grain Deal

Black Sea, Grains, News Briefs, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said this week he plans to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin to revive the Black Sea Grain Initiative, according to a News.Az report, citing Turkey’s Anadolu Agency.

Describing the grain corridor mechanism as a “positive step” toward a “just” world, he said Turkey will monitor the follow-up of this plan. According to the report, Erdogan wants to find a way to operate the grain corridor “no matter what.”

Russia withdrew from the Black Sea grain deal on July 17 (GM July 21, p. 1), complaining that parts of the Black Sea deal related to the facilitation of export shipments of Russian foodstuffs, ammonia, and other fertilizer products had not been implemented. Moscow also had sought the loosening of banking restrictions.

The agreement, which was brokered between Russia and Ukraine by the UN and Turkey in July 2022, was aimed at resuming grain exports from Ukraine out of the Black Sea ports of Yuzhny, Odesa, and Chornomorsk to the Bosporus, without being attacked by the Russian naval blockade in the Black Sea following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

This past August, Ukraine declared that temporary corridors have been established for merchant vessels arriving at and departing from the country’s ports in the Black Sea.

PhosAgro Approves RUB73 B Capex Spend in 2024

DAP/MAP, News Briefs, NPK, NPS, Phosphate Rock, Russia, Sulfuric Acid

PhosAgro PJSC’s Board has approved a capex totaling RUB73 billion (approximately $797.6 million at current exchange rates) for 2024.The capex amount includes planned spending on capital repairs, the company said in a Dec. 21 media statement.

The capex allocation will include spending on the continued development of the company’s ore and raw material base, with PhosAgro planning to start underground mining operations in the Gakman section of the Kirovsky apatite mine’s Yuksporr deposit in late 2024.

The company also plans to complete ongoing projects at its Cherepovets and Volkhov sites next year, which will see increases of 218,000 mt/y and 153,000 mt/y, respectively, in the volume of phosphate rock processed. PhosAgro reported in September that it was targeting its Volkhov production complex in southern Russia to reach design capacity of 1 million mt of MAP/DAP by the end of this year (GM Sept. 1, p. 24).

At its Balakovo site, the company expects the project for the third phase of development to reach target capacity in the first quarter of next year, increasing the production of feed phosphates by 14%, to 443,000 mt/y. It also expects the upgraded SK-20 industrial process at Balakovo’s sulfuric acid units to reach design capacity in the first quarter, expanding the site’s sulfuric acid output by 13%, to 3 million mt/y.

Balakovo currently produces some 2.3 million mt/y of fertilizers, including NPK and NPS fertilizers, as well as MAP and DAP. By 2026, PhosAgro said it plans to install additional capacity at Balakovo for almost 1 million mt/y of NPK fertilizers and more than 0.5 million mt/y of DAP.

PhosAgro reported earlier this month that it plans to boost total production by 1.4 million mt/y by 2026 versus the current level (GM Dec. 8, p. 27). PhosAgro expects to reach production of 11.3 million mt companywide in 2023. If achieved, this will be a 1.8% increase on 2022’s output of 11.1 million mt (GM March 10, p. 26).

Lithuania’s UHB to Buy 85% of Uzbek NPK Plant

Lithuania, News Briefs, NPK

Lithuanian fertilizer producer and exporter UHB Group will up its stake in Uzbekistan’s JV Samarkand-NPK to 85% over the next year as part of an acquisition commitment with the Uzbek state, the company said on Dec. 14. UHB had previously acquired a 38% stake in the NPK fertilizer plant in October. UHB did not disclose the cost of the transaction.

The Samarkand-NPK fertilizer plant has capacity to produce 240,000 mt/y of NPK fertilizers but has been working at only partial capacity since it started operations in February 2016, according to an Interfax/BNS report, citing UHB Group’s Chairman of the Board Kestutis Pakalnis.

UHB’s Agro division focuses on the production of high quality NPK fertilizers, and, according to the report, currently can produce around 120,000 mt/y in Lithuania.

UHB’s activities cover a wide range of sectors, including agriculture, chemicals, logistics, and the food industry, but the major share of turnover – as much as 80% – is from the production and sale of fertilizers and chemicals, which the company said will be growing even more with this acquisition of the plant in Uzbekistan.

Worley Gets BHP Contracts for Jansen Stage 1

Australia, News Briefs, Potash

Australia-based Worley Ltd. reported that BHP Canada Inc. has awarded the company a contract to fabricate pre-assembled units for the dry mill area and rail loading robot facilities of Stage 1 of the Jansen Potash Project in Saskatchewan. The company has also been awarded a separate contract to execute field construction for the dry mill area of Stage 1.

The project is expected to come online in late 2026. Stage 1 will have production capacity of 4.35 million mt/y and together with Stage 2, Jansen is expected to be one of the world’s largest potash mines.

Worley said the project, designed with a focus on sustainability, is expected to have lower greenhouse gas emissions and lower freshwater consumption per mt of product as compared with other potash mines in the region.

Under these contracts, Worley said it will use a digital model of the facilities and fabricate pre-assembled units at its Edmonton modularization yard. It said the pre-assembled unit strategy maximizes fabrication services at the yard, providing a safer work environment while also improving efficiency during field construction.

Novozymes, Chr. Hansen to Rebrand as Novonesis

Denmark, News Briefs

Danish companies Novozymes A/S, Bagsvaerd, and Chr. Hansen, Horsholm, report that they plan to rebrand as Novonesis after the Novozymes takeover of Chr. Hansen is complete. Novonesis means “a new beginning” and derives from the Greek word “genesis.”

The companies said the merger approval process is progressing as planned, with closing expected to take place in the first quarter of 2024. The new name will be gradually implemented once the proposed combination is completed.

Novozymes, the world’s largest maker of industrial enzymes, last December agreed to buy Chr. Hansen Holding A/S for about 87.1 billion kronor ($12.3 billion) in stock to gain probiotic cultures and expand in the growing market for food and nutrition.

Fertiberia Launches Microbe-Based Inhibitor

News Briefs, Nitrogen, Spain

Spain’s Fertiberia has announced the launch of NSAFE, which it says is the first microbiological development on the market with a nitrification inhibiting effect. It said the technology allows fertilizers to enrich the soil through their microbial nature, thereby offering a more efficient and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional chemically synthesized inhibitors.

“This pioneering technology protects nitrogen and prolongs its activity, remaining active in the soil for a longer amount of time and allowing plants to absorb it more slowly,” said Alfredo Segura, Commercial Director of Grupo Fertiberia. “And it does so with a twist: respecting microbial life and without having an impact on microorganisms present in the soil.”

The company said NSAFE does not act on ammoniacal nitrogen (NH4+) like synthetic inhibitors do, but instead acts on nitric nitrogen (NO3-) directly, being able to absorb it in its organic structure in protein form and release it in organic nitrogen form at the end of its life cycle.

Fertiberia said the product, which took more than six years of research, will initially be launched in the Spanish market, where it is already registered by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food. The company said procedures are underway for the NSAFE’s internationalization.

Millennial Adds Funds, Updates on Project

Africa, News Briefs, Potash

Junior miner Millennial Potash Corp., West Vancouver, B.C., said it has closed a private placement for over $1 million with plans to use the proceeds to fund exploration and development activities at its Banio Potash Project in Gabon, in West Africa (GM April 14, p. 26), and for general working capital.

The company also reported that recent drilling has intersected two new high-grade seams of potash mineralization. It said the cumulative thickness has the potential to be amenable to solution mining.