Columbia, Mo. — University of Missouri researchers have established a “closed loop” system to grow crops served on campus with fertilizer composted from the 250 tons of food discard and landfilled each year. “It’s known as the Zero Carbon Footprint Vegetable and Compost Production System and it’s the first of its kind nationwide,” said Tim Reinbott, superintendent of the Missouri University Bradford Research Center in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. “Students who throw it away get to eat it again.” Reinbott envisions the project as not just a way to save money for the university, but as a way to create a working model that other universities, prisons, and even small cities can use to cut costs and reduce pollution. According to government reports, food makes up 18 percent of the total waste stream in the U.S., and Americans toss out nearly 40 percent of the food they purchase. In a test run, food scraps from one dining hall were mixed with bedding from Mizzou’s horse farm in November as a ceremonial first load in the composting process. Now more than 250 tons of pre- and post-consumer food waste will be hauled to Bradford for composting each year, saving thousands of dollars and turning a nutrient rich waste stream into a valuable agricultural product, according to Reinbott. A 2,400 sq. foot, five-stall composting facility, dubbed the aerated static pile, was completed recently at Bradford, and the first truckload of food waste and animal bedding was dumped in November to start the cycle. Reinbott said that this process has already proven itself in other uses and eliminates many of the noxious gases, such as methane, that can escape into the atmosphere in open, non-aerated compost systems.
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Heringer acquires Maxif?rtil
Sao Paulo, Brazil – Fertilizantes Heringer SA reports that on Jan. 4 it acquired Maxifértil Fertilizantes Ltda.
Maxifértil is located in the city of Porto Alegre, state of Rio Grande do Sul, and its plant has a nominal productive capacity of 30,000 mt per month, similar to Fertilizantes Heringer’s production at its unit also located in the city of Porto Alegre, which operates in a rented plant. Heringer plans to close down the rented operations in favor of those at Maxifértil. Heringer produces and distributes basic fertilizers, NPK formulas and special fertilizers to customers in 23 Brazilian states and the Federal District of Brasília. In 2010, Heringer says it produced and marketed approximately 4.5 million mt of fertilizers.
Agrium lauds Madison for its patience
Madison, Wisc. — Agrium Inc. officials must have breathed a sigh of relief last week with the official start of development of the old dilapidated Royster Clark fertilizer plant site here into a combination of single-family homes, multi-tenant apartment units, and retail shops and businesses. Groundbreaking for the $4 million project being undertaken by Ruedebusch Development & Construction was held Dec.15, and was hailed by Agrium as a “great day for the community around the former Royster-Clark site and the entire city of Madison.” Since acquiring the Royster-Clark business and closing down the Madison facility in 2006, Agrium has been beset with problems as the site fell in disrepair. In 2009 Habitat for Humanity was ready to take over, but that deal fell through. At one point the city was thinking about fining Agrium as much as $1,000 a day over the condition of the deteriorating site, but that never happened. In a statement, Agrium said the company had worked hard to find a buyer, but that never materialized. “Agrium commends the dedication of city leaders for pursuing the various options for the property and financing plans. We also thank Carl Ruedebusch and his business partners for their vision and investment. Most importantly, we thank the families who live and work nearby. They have shown a great deal of patience throughout this process and can celebrate the start of a new chapter for this property.”
Wesfarmers AN project gets green light
Perth — The Wesfarmers board of directors has given its proposed ammonium nitrate project at Kwinana, south of Perth, the green light, but has pushed back the possible start-up from early 2014 to fourth quarter 2014. Environmental approvals are in place, and customer offtake agreements are close to being finalized for the A$550 million project. The project entails the construction of a third nitric acid/ammonium nitrate plant with production capacity of 260,000 mt/y, which would bring total AN capacity to 780,000 mt/y. The current forecast is for construction to be completed by the second quarter of fiscal 2014, with start-up in the fourth quarter.
Montero gives estimates on S. Africa project
Toronto — Montero Mining and Exploration Ltd. has filed its NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate for the Duyker Eiland Project in South Africa, which is located in the Western Cape Province, about 30 km north of the Port of Saldanha. “We are pleased with the initial Inferred Mineral Resource of 32.8 M mt at 7.15 percent P205 at Duyker Eiland; however, more importantly, that metallurgical test work indicates that an acid-grade concentrate can be produced by flotation,” said Dr. Tony Harwood, Montero president and CEO. “The Duyker Eiland and other phosphate assets provide excellent value-add to Montero’s portfolio. Montero remains focused on developing our flagship Wigu Hill Rare-Earth Project in Tanzania and advancing the hydrometallurgical test work as we target early mining and production.” Montero said testing indicates Duyker Eiland has potentially saleable acid-grade phosphate concentrate of 33-35 percent P205 (72.1-76.5 percent BPL), and can be produced by washing and flotation. Some 26 boreholes have been completed at the site.
$204,800 fine includes ammonia violations
Seminole, Okla. — The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Sigma Processed Meats Inc. for 16 serious and three repeat violations, including not properly training employees and correcting deficiencies in safety management for anhydrous ammonia, and is proposing penalties totaling $204,800. The fines follow an inspection that began June 1 by OSHA’s Oklahoma City area office at the company’s processing plant in Seminole. OSHA had received a complaint about conditions at the company’s processing plant in Seminole regarding workers being exposed to fall and other hazards. The violations considered as serious involved failing to provide guardrails as fall protection for employees working on elevated walking/working surfaces; failing to provide an adequate emergency action plan; failing to provide personal protective equipment, such as goggles or face shields; failing to train employees on the use of hazardous chemicals; and failing to address hazards created by deficiencies in the company’s process safety management system for anhydrous ammonia. The anhydrous ammonia is used for the refrigeration system. Sigma employs about 160 workers at the Seminole plant, which produces cold cut meats, cheese, creams, and frozen foods.
ICL royalty agreement still under attack by Israeli lobbies
Two leading Israeli lobbies have petitioned Israel’s Supreme Court against the agreement approved on January 1st by the Israeli government and Israel Chemicals Ltd. (ICL) for the removal of salt from the Dead Sea and a new royalty regime.
The agreement calls for ICL to pay $800 million for the salt harvesting, with the government covering $200 million. However, half of the government payment will be offset by indirect payments from the company. ICL will bear the cost of any overruns on the project, which involves the construction of a huge conveyor system to remove the salt. The government will not intervene in the planning of the salt harvesting project except to instruct the country’s planning authorities to expedite approval due to the importance of the project.
The royalty agreement doubles the government take from 5 to 10 percent on production above 1.5 million tons beginning this year. The agreement between the Finance Ministry and ICL received overwhelming backing by the Israeli government. The major opponents – Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan and Tourism Minister Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov – bitterly attacked the agreement. The only change to the original agreement will allow the royalty issue to be reviewed in two years time.
In their petition, the Israel Union for Environmental Defense (IUED) and the Movement for Quality Government called for the cancellation of the agreement. The petition argues that the agreement with ICL "is unreasonable and based on incorrect assertions." The two powerful lobbies also said it violates the public interest and social justice, and that the agreement was concluded without any public input and with a total lack of transparency. The petition went on to say that the agreement ran counter to the principles of proper public administration.
Under the government decision, a team was established to make recommendations within six weeks on the use of the increased royalties. They are to be paid into a special fund that will contribute to the cost of rehabilitating the Dead Sea. Opposition Labor Party leader Shelly Yachimovitch called the agreement with ICL “miserable” and charged that it left the public only “crumbs” from the country’s natural resources.
Meanwhile, the broader issue of royalties on natural resources has also come up for review by the Israeli Finance Ministry, which could have an impact on royalties that ICL pays on phosphates. A new formula was instituted in 2009, and royalties were raised from 2.5 US cents a ton to 26 cents a ton. The following year they increased in accordance with the new formula to 44 US cents a ton. However, at current phosphate rock prices, this amounts to an increase of only around 0.25 – 0.3 percent, which is far lower than the royalties on potash and natural gas. Israel’s Energy and Water Ministry is planning to conduct a survey on royalties for the country’s natural resources in comparison with the regimes that are in place in other countries. The ministry said that the results of the survey will serve as the basis for recommendations to update the situation in Israel.
Li3 expands reserves, names board chairman
Li3 Energy Inc., Santiago, which is tasked to develop the Maricunga lithium brine project in Chile, has added more reserves and named a chairman of the board. One of Li3’s goals is to become a mid-tier, low-cost supplier of lithium, potassium nitrate, iodine, and other strategic minerals, serving global clients in the energy, fertilizer and specialty chemical industries.
In December, Li3, a U.S.-listed and South American-based company, signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to acquire 100 percent of the interests of SLM Bongo, SLM Clarita, SLM Lithium, and SLM Corral. Collectively, these projects comprise 74 mining concessions covering a total of 9,257 hectares. The SLM Clarita, SLM Bongo, and SLM Lithium projects (1,507 hectares/43 concessions) are classified as exploration concessions. They are situated within the Maricunga Salar in Northern Chile (Region 111), within close proximity to existing Li3 mining concessions, bringing the total hectares owned within Maricunga to 2,945. The SLM Corral (7,750 hectares/31 concessions) is located approximately four (4) kilometers north of Li3’s Maricunga Project Base Camp and could possibly serve as the site for its commercial processing facility, as well as its evaporation ponds. Upon successful closing, the properties would increase Li3’s existing Maricunga and other land ownership to 10,695 hectares, making Li3 Energy one of the largest exploration and land owners, and to the best of its knowledge one of the only companies conducting development work within Maricunga.
Li3 says the properties represent some of the largest possible land packages available in close proximity to the Maricunga Salar and are representative of Li3’s overall strategy to identify, acquire, explore, and develop additional accretive land assets that have by-product and other synergistic values to support the development of its flagship Maricunga Project. Upon the successful closing, Li3 believes that the known geology of Maricunga, the fragmented nature and limited number of available explorable projects within close proximity to the Salar, and the growing interest from other groups evaluating properties provides Li3 a competitive barrier, thereby neutralizing the ability of other entities to acquire large land assets and encroach upon Li3’s Maricunga Project. Li3 says it continues to evaluate additional synergistic opportunities in the region. The closing of the acquisition is subject to further due diligence, which Li3 is anticipating to be completed within 60 days.
The financial terms of the combined acquisitions consist of the following: On execution of the LOI, US$250,000.00; on closing of the acquisition (for 100 percent of the properties), US$1.5 million; on completion of a NI 43-101 on the properties, to be completed on or before July 1st, 2012, US$3.0 million and 20 million shares of restricted Li3 common stock; on Jan. 1, 2014, US$5.0 million, or at the sole option of Li3, the equivalent of restricted Li3 common stock, as well as 25 million shares of restricted Li3 common stock. The SLM Corrales property will be acquired for a price equivalent to all of the expenses that have been incurred since its constitution (approximately US$100,000) up to the closing of the acquisitions, with 100 percent of the asset transferred on closing.
Li3 recently named mining veteran Patrick Cussen as chairman of the board. The company says he has over 35 years of experience in the industry, specifically in marketing and sales, project exploration, evaluation, and technical and economic assessment. He is currently the president of Celta, a Chilean mining services company, and also chairman of the board of The Center for Copper and Mining Studies, (Cesco), the Chilean think-tank on mining.
The Week in Fertilizer Stocks
The Week in Fertilizer Stocks
| Producer | Symbol | Price | Week Ago | Year Ago |
| Agrium | AGU | 71.77 | 66.87 | 91.62 |
| CF Industries | CF | 159.66 | 143.99 | 137.00 |
| Intrepid Potash | IPI | 22.99 | 22.46 | 35.82 |
| Mosaic | MOS | 53.50 | 50.28 | 77.13 |
| PotashCorp* | POT | 43.04 | 41.21 | 53.75 |
| Terra Nitrogen | TNH | 179.48 | 163.70 | 98.98 |
| CVR Partners | UAN | 27.04 | 24.77 | N/A |
| Distribution/Retail | ||||
| Andersons Inc. | ANDE | 42.97 | 44.39 | 38.08 |
| Deere & Co. | DE | 81.64 | 77.59 | 84.24 |
| Scotts | SMG | 47.45 | 46.54 | 49.89 |
| * represents three-for-one stock split | ||||