All Posts from July 12, 2019

Sennen Potash Corp.

Management Briefs, Potash, Vancouver

Sennen Potash Corp., Vancouver, reported earlier this month that Brent Hahn has resigned from the Board of Directors and as CEO. Tara Haddad has been appointed as Interim CEO. The company says she is a CPA-CA with over 20 years of financial experience. She has a B.S. from Simon Fraser University.

The company also said it has appointed Ms. Taylor Cordeiro, an accomplished entrepreneur, to the Board of Directors.

Sennen Potash, which identifies itself as a natural resource company that trades on the TSX Venture Exchange, exited its Monument Potash Project in southeastern Utah in late 2017 (GM Jan. 9, 2017), citing a downturn in the potash market and problems in obtaining sufficient financing. In January 2019, the company terminated a proposed deal in which it would have acquired cannabis producer Folium Life Sciences Inc., Vancouver Island.

Agrinos – Management Brief

Europe, Management Briefs, Specialty

Biological crop input provider Agrinos, Oslo, reported on July 5 that Raj Kaul has been appointed Chairman of its Board of Directors. He is the Managing Partner of RK Associates, a business and advisory consulting company operating in Europe and India. With over 30 years of experience in general management as well as mergers and acquisitions, he previously held leadership roles with Bayer AG and currently serves on the boards of several agriculture chemical and technology companies based around the globe.

“As Agrinos opens new markets and generates sales all over the world, Raj has the experience and background required to support the next phase of the company’s growth and commercial expansion,” said outgoing Chairman Frederic de Stexhe.

“The proven track record of success that Raj brings to this role, combined with his entrepreneurial spirit and deep knowledge of the marketplace, will further solidify Agrinos’ position as a leading provider of global ag biological products,” said Agrinos CEO Kevin Helash.

de Stexhe, who had been serving as Acting Chairman since January 2018, will continue to serve on the board, where he served since 2017.

 

SiteOne Adds Five Locations

California, News, News Briefs, Specialty

SiteOne® Landscape Supply Inc., Roswell, Ga., reported on July 5 that it acquired the wholesale distribution business of L.H. Voss Materials Dublin and its affiliates, Mt. Diablo Landscape Centers and Clarks Home & Gardens, which include five locations across the East Bay in northern California. The locations are focused on the distribution of hardscapes and landscape supplies to landscape professionals.

“L.H. Voss Materials Dublin, Mt. Diablo, and Clarks are a natural fit with SiteOne as they help expand our geographical presence across the East Bay market for hardscape and landscape materials. This acquisition aligns with our mission to be the best full-line distributor to landscape professionals in the markets we serve,” said Doug Black, SiteOne Chairman and CEO. He noted that the acquisition is SiteOne’s sixth so far in 2019.

Darling Opens Organic Plant in Nebraska

News, News Briefs, Specialty

Darling Ingredients Inc., Irving, Texas, opened a new organic fertilizer plant in Fremont, Neb., on July 1. The facility is located on a 10-acre site and has the ability to produce 35,000 st/y of Nature Safe Natural & Organic Fertilizers. The company said the new plant and finished product storage is designed to meet the needs of organic growers operating in the central region of the U.S. The Nebraska organic fertilizer facility will utilize product from several nearby Darling rendering plants.

This is the third organic fertilizer plant for Darling, which has operated Nature Safe out of its original Henderson, Ky., plant since the early 1990s. Henderson serves customers in the Midwest, Northeast, and Southeast. Western customers are served by a new plant in Turlock, Calif., which opened on Jan. 2.

“The company is focused on a U.S. growth strategy where it could leverage Darling’s diverse supply of animal ingredients into the organic fertilizer market,” said Mike Manning, Darling Vice President of Organic Fertilizer and Innovation. With long-established U.S. rendering facilities that produce feather meal, blood meal, and meat and bone meal, Darling said the company’s Nature Safe brand produces the highest quality organic fertilizers on the market with cost-effective proficiency.

Arkema Completes ArrMaz Acquisition

News, News Briefs, Specialty

Chemical maker Arkema, Colombes, France, reported on July 2 that it completed its $570 million acquisition of ArrMaz Custom Chemicals Inc., Mulberry, Fla., from Golden Gate Capital, San Francisco (GM May 17, p. 26). Founded in 1967, ArrMaz, which Golden Gate purchased in 2013 (GM Jan. 14, 2013), is a specialty chemicals producer for the mining, fertilizer, phosphate, industrial ammonium nitrate, asphalt, and oil and gas industries. It serves customers globally from multiple locations across North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

ArrMaz’s annual sales are $290 million. The company generates margins of 18 percent, and integrating the business into Arkema’s Performance Additive segment should generate $15 million in savings by 2023, according to Arkema, which said ArrMaz is a profitable, resilient, and low-capital intensive business that is expected to have an accretive impact from the first year. It also said the acquisition continues to move it toward specialties, and noted that Arkema already sells some of its surfactant products to mining companies.

ArrMaz’s management team, led by CEO Dave Keselica, will continue to lead ArrMaz.

“We are very pleased to welcome the ArrMaz teams,” said Thierry Le Hénaff, Arkema Chairman and CEO. “Their recognized formulation expertise, excellent reputation with customers, and leadership positions in several niche markets are all assets that will contribute to accelerate the development of specialty surfactants within the group.”

Arkema reported annual sales of €8.8 billion in 2018, and employs some 20,000 people worldwide and operates in close to 55 countries.

Infinity Lithium Grants Option on Gabonese Potash Assets; Focus on Lithium

Africa, Australia, Lithium, News, News Briefs, Potash

ASX-listed Infinity Lithium Corp. Ltd., Subiaco, Western Australia, said on July 9 that it has signed a binding Letter of Intent (LOI) for the sale of the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary Equatorial Potash Pty Ltd. (EPPL), which owns the Banio and Mamana Potash Projects in Gabon. The LOI grants the unidentified buyer a 12-month exclusive option to purchase 100 percent interest in EPPL for $3 million. The option holder, as part of the consideration, is to cover the holding and operating costs attributable to projects for the term of the option.

“The Gabonese potash assets are high quality, proven potash deposits with great potential,” said Infinity Lithium Managing Director Ryan Parkin. “Infinity has previously announced its intention to divest the Gabon assets and is now focused solely on the lithium industry, and has recently advanced to 75 percent ownership of the massive San Jose lithium deposit in Spain. This warrants our absolute focus and attention. Having a deal structure which can deliver real value through removing holding costs for Gabon, and providing leverage to equity upside is a good outcome.”

Infinity acquired the Gabon potash assets prior to becoming involved in the lithium project in Spain.

Infinity owns 100 percent of Banio and the application for Mamana, which it said is a drill-proven, high-grade, shallow deposit. It said both projects have access to infrastructure, being located on the coast and on major transport river ways with direct access to export ports, adding that the sites are ideally located to serve the Brazil market.

Infinity was previously known as Plymouth Minerals Ltd.

Nutrien Miners Safely Evacuated

News, News Briefs, Potash, Saskatchewan

Nutrien Ltd., Saskatoon, said on July 3 that 34 miners were safely evacuated from the Cory Potash Mine after having been trapped underground on July 2 due to a shaft failure (GM July 5, p. 25). The company said the miners were safe and comfortable during the incident with access to air, water, and food, and were brought to the surface as soon practicable. It said the mine is not producing potash and is currently in a summer maintenance turnaround.

EPA Settles with Cold Storage Company

Ammonia, News, News Briefs

The U.S. EPA said on July 9 that it has settled with Londonderry Freezer Warehouse (LFW), Londonderry, N.H., to help the cold storage firm improve compliance and prevent chemical accidents. EPA said LFW has spent more than $215,000 to bring its facility back into compliance with the Clean Air Act (CAA) requirements that apply to ammonia refrigeration systems that have less than 10,000 pounds of ammonia. LFW also paid $78,200 to resolve the alleged violations.

EPA alleged that LFW had inadequate alarms and ventilation, rusted valves, and insufficient access to emergency controls, among other alleged deficiencies. EPA said the company fully cooperated with its regional office and has certified that they are now in compliance with the CAA.

Slavkaliy, BPC to Coordinate Pricing Policy; Nezhinsky 2023 Start-Up Expected; Belaruskali to Add Capacity

Belarus, Featured, News, Potash, Russia

Russian-owned Slavkaliy Co., which is currently developing the Nezhinsky potash mine and processing plant in eastern Belarus, will pursue a pricing policy coordinated with Belarus Potash Co. (BPC) for export sales of its potash, according to a BelTA report, citing Slavkaliy’s controlling shareholder, Russian billionaire Mikhail Gutseriev. “There will be no competition, only symmetry,” he said.

Gutseriev recently met with Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko to discuss the project’s progress and prospects for sales, according to BelTA. Lukashenko highlighted the importance of “cementing relations” between Slavkaliy and BPC in order that the new producer can enter the market in “a coordinated” fashion.

A tie-up with BPC, Belarus’ existing export marketer and seller of potash produced by the country’s current sole producer, state-owned Belaruskali, had been expected. Gutseriev has said on a number of previous occasions that Slavkaliy Co. will sell potash only via BPC (GM July 14, p. 28; Sept. 21, 2015). BPC back in 2017 had said it had a preliminary agreement in place with Slavkaliy Co. to sell output from Nezhinsky (GM Sept. 8, 2017).

Construction of the Nezhinsky potash mine and plant based on the Starobinskoye salts deposit got underway in late 2016, and will have capacity to produce some 2 million mt/y of potassium chloride (GM Sept. 8, 2017).

The mine’s two shafts are expected to be completed within the next year, and Gutseriev said some €400 million (approximately US$449 million) is being invested into the building of the processing plant this year, according to the report. He said plant construction will be finished and the first potash produced in 2-1/2 years, by 2023. First production originally had been targeted for 2020.

Early this year, Slavkaliy Co. said it planned to start hiring personnel in 2021 to work at its Nezhinsky potash operation, and that all workers would be hired by 2023 (GM Feb. 15, p. 27).

Belaruskali is also targeting trial production to see the first tons of potash concentrate this coming December at its new Petrikov mine and potash processing plant under development in the country’s Gomel region (GM May 24, p. 30). The Petrikov processing plant will have a nameplate capacity of at least 1.5 million mt/y of potassium chloride, but the company previously that indicated capacity could be increased to 2.2 million mt/y through “modern engineering solutions” (GM Aug. 31, 2018).

Lukashenko sees Belarus becoming virtually the world’s top producer once the new Nezhinsky mine and plant and Petrikov are commissioned, which, he said will enable Belarus “to dictate sales terms,” according to the BelTA report, quoting the president.

Belaruskali produced just over 12.5 million mt of potash last year, up from 11.5 million mt in 2017, according to its in-house journal (GM May 24, p. 30).

Belaruskali also plans to start developing level two of its Krasnoslobodsky potash mine commercially in the second quarter of 2023, according to an Interfax report, citing Belaruskali’s in-house journal.

The development of level two will increase the mine’s ore production capability by some 38 percent, to 11 million mt/y – the equivalent of 2.5 million mt/y of potash product – from the current 8 million mt/y of ore, according to the report. Stripping at level two began in August 2018.

Belaruskali in January also revealed that it had decided to restart the Darasinsky potash mine project, a development first proposed in early 2013 and subsequently put on hold (GM Jan. 11, p. 25). Construction started this past May (GM May 24, p. 30). The company is targeting nameplate capacity of some 8 million mt/y of potash ore at Darasinsky, which subsequently will be increased to 9 million mt/y. Ore from the mine will be processed at the company’s third production site (RU-3).

K+S Adds More Specialty Fertilizer at Werra Facility

Germany, News, News Briefs, Specialty

K+S Group, Kassel, has commissioned a new plant at its Wintershall site at the Werra facility in Germany. It will produce magnesium sulfate anhydrous, a specialty fertilizer used in fertigation and as a granulation aid for compound fertilizers, among others, as well as for uses in the pulp industry.

The company has invested about €34 million (approximately US$38 million) in the new facility over the past three years. It expands the company’s production capacity of magnesium sulfate anhydrous by “considerably” more than 50 percent, K+S said, and to “a low six-digit amount” of mt/y, according to Bloomberg.

The new plant supports K+S’ “Shaping 2030” strategy, which includes the further expansion of the specialties’ business.

The new facility will also produce the animal feed product KaSa Mag 98. By optimizing production processes, the plant will produce significantly less wastewater and reduce the required amount of freshwater compared to the previous facility.

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