- Boron producer, American Pacific Borates, or ABR, has provided updates on activities at its Fort Cady Borate Project in southern California
- Fort Cady is the largest known borate occurrence in the world not owned by Rio Tinto or Eti Maden
- ABR is focused on engaging a U.S. university to conduct crop trials for a speciality fertiliser to be produced at Fort Cady
- The company will leverage this product to target the high-priced U.S. market for fertilisers with little chlorine that are better for crops
- ABR is also discussing with Amvest Capital and Chinese SOEs for financing and off-take contracts
- The company is down 5 per cent today with shares trading for 28.5 cents
American Pacific Borates has provided updates on current activities at its Fort Cady Borate Project in southern California.
Fort Cady is a rare colemanite deposit that comprises 13.93 million tonnes of contained boric acid.
It is the largest known borate occurrence in the world that isn’t owned by the two major borate producers: Rio Tinto and Eti Maden.
A major focus for the company is conducting crop trials and studies on a combined boron, potassium and sulphur speciality fertiliser that can be produced from boric acid and sulphate of potash (SOP).
This fertiliser will target the high priced U.S. market for minimal chlorine-based potassium fertilisers.
Boric acid and SOP contain three of the six most consumed nutrients in North America and have the added advantage of minimal chlorine which makes it suitable for crops like nuts, fruits and tobacco.
To conduct these trials, ABR has started engaging with west coast and east coast university in the U.S.
The company is also undertaking discussions with Amvest Capital and Chinese state owned enterprises for financing and off-take contracts.
ABR is leveraging Fort Cady’s strong metrics including a targeted EBITDA in the first full year of production of A$507 million (US$345 million) and modest initial production of boric acid to remove off-take risk.
Additionally, ABR has been discussing a potential partner process with North American investment banks who have experience with deep mining and fertiliser markets.
The target for the commencement of civil works for the Fort Cady Borate Mine remains to be December 2019.
The company is down 5 per cent today with shares trading for 28.5 cents at 1:47 pm AEDT.