Spokane, Wash.-Marifil Mines Ltd. said June 16 that an ongoing exploration program for potash in the Neuquen Basin in Argentina resulted in identification of two potash horizons from electric logs from an abandoned oil well drill hole. Analysis of electric logs from this 1996 hole suggests that there are two potassium horizons ?Çô an Upper Horizon from 1303 m to 1314 m, followed by a Lower Horizon from 1314 m to 1323 m. The Lower Horizon is of higher grade, as in Rio Tinto’s nearby Rio Colorado mine, and can be estimated at 15-20 percent K2O; the grade of the Upper Horizon is estimated to run between 5 to 15 percent in K2O. Rio Tinto’s Rio Colorado mine has a geologic resource of two billion tons of KCl, according to Marifil. Based on this analysis, the company has staked 100,000 hectares and is now planning to conduct a NI 43-101 study of this exciting new prospect. The company owns 100 percent of this new project. “The focus of this company is to build value in Argentina,” said Marifil President John Hite. “Recently we acquired some land with potash potential and quickly sold it to Latin American Potash, which in turn was acquired by Allana Resources. We immediately began a program to discover additional resources. This new discovery is just the second from an ongoing non-metallic program for coal, sulfur, potash, limestone, and phosphate. In keeping with our business plan, the company intends to farm out or joint venture this property.” Marifil identifies itself as a Canadian mineral exploration company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol “MFM.”
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Oregon’s OVS invests in dry-to-liquid blending
McMinnville, Ore.-Long-time Oregon agriculture chemicals and supplies dealer OVS has completed and put into operation here one of only two blending facilities in the northern Willamette Valley that has the capability to convert dry fertilizer into liquid form. “There are not a lot of these facilities in the country,” according to OVS Plant Manager Ken Wessels. He said the expansion represents an investment of $1 million, including $500,000 in equipment and another $500,000 in adjacent property with two storage buildings, which is presently under lease. He said the blending facility is equipped with a 3 million BTU water heater that gives OVS the capability of blending a wide variety of products that cannot be done with cold mixing. “We have the ability to melt products such as urea, potassium chloride, sulfate of potash, ammonium sulfate, potassium nitrate, and phosphate plus a wide variety of other macro and micronutrients,” he added. This new facility is equipped with a variety of tanks and bladders totaling over 170,000 gallons of bulk storage. OVS now has the ability to bring raw materials in by bulk truck or rail car and blend them to specific needs in one of its blending tanks equipped with NTEP approved weighing systems. The facility is equipped with a 2,500 gallon stainless steel blender and a 2,500 gallon organic acid mixer. “We have the ability to blend any volume you may need, whether it’s a full semi-load, a mini-bulk shuttle or as little as a 5 gallon bucket,” Wessels said.
Study eyes gains from N deposited in ocean
College Station, Tex.-Fertilizer and other nitrogen sources, which have taken the blame for creating dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico and other large water bodies, actually may be a factor in reducing greenhouse gases, according to a team of international scientists. Thirty experts from institutions around the world under the direction of Texas A&M University Distinguished Professor of Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences Robert Duce have concluded that human-caused atmospheric nitrogen compounds, which are carried by wind and deposited into the ocean, increase production of marine plant life, which causes carbon dioxide to be drawn from the atmosphere into the ocean. This process removes about 10 percent of the human-caused carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, potentially reducing the climate warming, according to the team’s paper, which is published in the current issue of the journal Science. The human-caused nitrogen fertilization of the ocean removes some of the most important greenhouse gas – carbon dioxide – from the atmosphere, Duce emphasized. However, he cautioned, this gain is offset by the nitrogen compound nitrous oxide that also forms in the ocean due to the nitrogen fertilization and is re-emitted into the atmosphere. Nitrous oxide is a powerful greenhouse gas itself – about 300 times that of carbon dioxide – thus canceling out about two-thirds of the apparent gain from the carbon dioxide removal, he explained. However, he continued, “The whole system is so complex that we’re still rather unsure about what some of the other impacts might be within the ocean. Still, if you don’t consider the impact of human-caused nitrogen when trying to model climate change, you’re missing a possibly significant part of the overall carbon cycle as well as the nitrogen cycle. Nitrogen deposition is potentially a very important factor in the climate change issue.”
USDA cutting out pesticide tracking, reporting
Washington-USDA says limited resources combined with escalating survey expenses and increasing staff costs are forcing its National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) to quit – for the most part – tracking and publishing information about nationwide pesticide usage. Loss of this important service, declared the American Farm Bureau Federation, will create a serious hardship for farmers. AFBF spokesman Don Lipton remarked, “It (eliminating the program) will mean farmers will be subjected to conjecture and allegations about their use of chemicals and fertilizer. Given the historic concern about chemical use by consumers, regulators, activist groups and farmers, it’s probably not an area where lack of data is a good idea.” And agriculture will not be the only segment affected by the decision. EPA uses the service when figuring out how chemicals should be regulated and which pesticides pose the greatest risk to public health. Pesticide companies also rely on the program when they’re looking to reregister agricultural chemicals. Environmental groups echoed the concern. NASS explained that survey budget cuts have reduced the agency’s capabilities over the last decade, resulting in downsizing or eliminating programs, including collecting chemical use data on a rotational basis. Based on the need to redirect funds in accordance with the priorities, the decision was made to further curtail the NASS chemical use program beginning in FY 2007. Current funding will only allow a very limited number of commodities to be surveyed each year. Current plans are to collect data for specific crops every five or six years. Many other commodities will be much less frequent. NASS will not conduct any agricultural chemical usage surveys on crops produced in 2008. However, under a cooperative agreement with the USDA Economic Research Service, NASS plans to collect wheat nutrient and pesticide data as part of the 2009 Agricultural Resource Management Survey and publish this data in May 2010.
JDC Phosphate reports receipt of phos acid patent
San Francisco-JDC Phosphate said June 17 that it has been granted a patent for the Improved Hard Process, a Kiln Phosphoric Acid (IHP/KPA) production method. JDC says the patent, no. 7,378,070, protects technological breakthroughs that cut production cost while increasing phosphoric-acid purity and environmental friendliness. Compared to the conventional wet-acid process, which has remained essentially the same since the middle of the 19th Century, the IHP/KPA production method provides a three-fold advance, says JDC. The first is a more concentrated SPA (super phosphoric acid) product; the second is a valuable co-product – an inert, silica-rich aggregate; and the third is an overall process that significantly improves the land stewardship and industry sustainability of phosphate manufacturing. “JDC built on Occidental Research’s pilot-plant breakthroughs to discover the advances that give the IHP/KPA process commercial viability,” said George Sibbald, JDC CEO. “Importantly, our process is a dry, high-temperature manufacturing method. Thanks to this innovation, we have demonstrated that many of the environmental shortcomings of the established, wet-acid process can be successfully overcome. As an added benefit, the IHP/KPA method accommodates low-grade ore with high contamination levels. That gives our dry process the potential to as much as double the commercially viable reserves in several ore bodies.” Among the environmental issues faced by current phosphate-production methods are large waste gypsum piles, ground- and surface-water contamination, and radiation, radon, and fluoride pollution. JDC says the IHP/KPA production process can largely overcome every one of these problems. According to Sibbald, JDC is proceeding with plans for building a commercial plant and selecting a location for its Phosphate Production and Environmental Engineering Research Center.” The objective of our research and development efforts is to bring advanced phosphate-manufacturing technology and know-how to the industry by reshaping production and logistics. Best of all, we will be doing this from an agricultural perspective that has as its goals sustainability and improved environmental stewardship.” Founded by Joseph Megy, Ph.D, in 1985, JDC is dedicated to improving the performance of the phosphate-production industry through innovative manufacturing methods, techniques for more profitable operation, and enhanced environmental stewardship. For more information, see the company’s website at:www.phosphatesustainability.com
Potash One exercises rights in Potash North
Vancouver-Potash One Inc. said June 16 that it has exercised its right (as previously announced on May 13, 2008) to fully subscribe to the initial private placement financing of Potash North Resource Corp. (PON). The company has subscribed for 27 percent of the private placement, which equates to 6,583,850 units at $0.35 per unit, for total consideration of $2,304,347. Each unit consists of one common share and one common share purchase warrant, each warrant exercisable to acquire a further common share at a price of $0.50 per share for two years. As a result of this transaction Potash One holds approximately 13 percent of PON’s outstanding shares. In addition, Potash One holds warrants which, if exercised, could result in Potash One holding 13,167,000 shares of PON, increasing its ownership interest to up to 23 percent of the outstanding shares of PON, assuming no other dilutive securities of PON are exercised. Potash One President and CEO Paul Matysek said “This decision provides the company with a number of attractive options, such as 1) a non-dilutive source of funding for the company, through partial or full monetization of PON shares; and 2) a continued exposure to the conventional mining potash sector while allowing Potash One to focus on developing its large 336,343 acres of solution mining amenable potash lands with particular emphasis on the Legacy Project.” In other news, Potash One on June 17 announced that it has received final approval from the Toronto Stock Exchange to list its common shares on the TSX. Potash One’s shares will trade under the symbol “KCL,” and will began trading at the opening of business June 18.
Gas woes delay Burrup $2.5 B IPO
Perth-Burrup Holdings Ltd. said June 13 it is awaiting further guidance from Apache Energy Ltd. on the recent incident at Varanus Island and the expected timing of the restoration of gas supplies to the Burrup nitrogen plant. As a result, the company will not accept applications made under the prospectus dated May 19, 2008. It also advised that the Institutional Bookbuild did not take place June 16-17, as originally expected under the prospectus. Burrup said once it receives more information from Apache, it will be in a position to provide an update on the timetable for the IPO and the issue of a supplementary prospectus.
Most Viterra employees accept deal, others do not
Regina-Viterra Inc. said June 16 that a majority of members of the Grain Services Union (GSU) in the AgPro (Alberta and Manitoba) bargaining unit have voted in favor of the company’s offer, which will provide them with common terms and conditions of employment, including market-based compensation and benefits, fairness and flexibility and long-term labor stability. Some 85.5 percent of the employees who cast ballots voted to accept the final offer. Viterra said that based on performance measurements and goals, employees can enjoy an annual incentive program in the range of 5, 10, and 15 percent that will potentially add to their total compensation. Viterra’s accepted offer includes a six percent compensation payment on signing, as well as annual increases (that are based on an individual employee’s performance) of 6, 5, 5, and 5 percent beginning Nov. 1, 2008. With today’s results, Viterra now has approximately 630 employees in Alberta and about 570 employees in Saskatchewan and about 160 employees in Manitoba who enjoy programs that provide for the same system of pay, benefit and pension plans, and vacations and statutory holidays. Voting results for the GSU’s Saskatchewan Maintenance and Operations unit are expected June 20. The Regina office’s bargaining unit rejected the company’s offer on June 10. The company has said it stands by its offer made to the offices bargaining unit. The Regina unit, which includes 194 employees, voted to strike; however, the company said the earliest date for a strike would be July 7. Viterra resulted from the 2007 merger of Saskatchewan Wheat Pool and Agricore United.
Viterra reopens Grimshaw elevator
Regina-Viterra Inc. plans to reopen its elevator in Grimshaw, Alberta, in July 2008 to enhance grain handling and marketing services to customers in the northern part of the Peace River area. The facility, which was closed in 2001, will provide a local delivery alternative for Viterra farm customers. It said the decision to reopen the facility is supported by a strong business case given the recent redistribution of Viterra grain handling assets across Western Canada and the absence of a Viterra elevator in the area. Viterra said the elevator will complement Viterra’s Ag Retail Farm Service Centre in Grimshaw and other surrounding communities, which offer premium products including fertilizer, seed, equipment and crop protection products.
Fert’s role in food production touted in TFI paper
Washington, D.C.-The Fertilizer Institute on June 17 released its new policy briefing paper, Fertilizer’s Role in World Food Production, which has been developed as a tool for use in ongoing policy discussions regarding the food price crisis and long-term solutions. The color brochure emphasizes diversifying diets and increased global food demand as the driving factors behind the food crisis, stating that if we are to keep up with food demand, the world will need record global crop production every year. “Fertilizer is a precious resource, which is an integral part of any nation’s food security strategy,” said TFI President Ford B. West. “As people around the world demand more nutritious diets, the public and policymakers cannot overlook the fertilizer industry’s important contributions to world food production.” TFI is making this briefing paper available to its members for use at state and regional meetings with legislatures, local councils, and others. Members can order complimentary co-branded brochures for use in their own lobbying and education efforts. The policy briefing paper is available at www.tfi.org.