Completed Product Storage Capacity Expansion at Arapua Fertiliser Project
& Agreed Credit Financing Facility for KPFértil Clients
Harvest Minerals Limited, the AIM listed remineraliser producer, is pleased to announce that it has concluded the expansion of the Mining and Storage Areas at its 100% owned Arapua Fertiliser Project in Brazil (‘Arapua’) (see RNS dated 22 September 2020). Harvest is also pleased to announce that it has signed an agreement with Banco do Brasil, Brazil’s largest rural credit provider, whereby the bank will provide credit lines for Harvest’s clients to fund their KPFértil orders.
Highlights:
· Expansion work concluded and now operating on a 24-hour, three-shift production scale to meet peak demand
o Product Storage capacity expanded by 300% or 30,000 tonnes of product over a 6,000m2 total storage covered area
o Mining Area increased four-fold to 78.8km2 to provide greater production flexibility according to demand
· Agreement signed with Banco do Brasil, Brazil’s largest rural credit provider, allowing Harvest’s clients to access to the bank’s line of credit to fund orders of KPFértil product
Brian McMaster, Chairman of Harvest, said: “We are pleased to have completed, on time and under budget, the significant expansion of both the Product Storage Facility and Mining Area at Arapua. Both are key to providing us the necessary capacity and flexibility to meet the growing demand for KPFértil and I would like to thank our engineering and operational team for such an achievement. On the marketing side, Harvest has secured an important agreement with Banco do Brasil, which now has its door open to our clients for their working capital needs, allowing them to access the bank’s rural line of credit to place their KPFértil orders with us; this is a great marketing tool for our sales team.”
Further Information:
Harvest has completed the Product Storage Facility expansion to 30,000 tonnes, a three-fold increase in finished product storage capacity, and the Mining Area expansion to 78.8km2, a four-fold increase. As detailed in previous press releases, this expansion will allow the flexibility to increase production, dry ore and provide additional run of mine at times of peak demand for the Company’s product.
Work completed:
· Expansion of the Mining Area
· Expansion of the Product Storage Area
· Addition of Manoeuvre Area for Bigger Trucks
· Maintenance of the Access Roads
· Improvements at the Processing Plant
· Infrastructure Improvements
With the completion of the expansion, Harvest is now working on a three-shift production scale (24 hours per day) in order to meet growing demand and delivery of products sold in the third quarter of 2020.
Expanded Product Storage Facility (Completed in October 2020) – see PDF for image
Expansion of the Mining Area (in m2) – see PDF for image
To view the announcement with the illustrative maps and diagrams please use the following link:
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/0742E_1-2020-11-3.pdf
Agreement with Banco do Brasil
An agreement has been signed with Banco do Brasil, whereby Harvest’s clients will now be able to access the bank’s rural line of credit to fund their orders of KPFértil up to a total amount of R$5.0 million per client (about US$1.0 million). It is expected that with the continuous relationship with Banco do Brasil, the size of the line of credit should increase over time.
Banco do Brasil is the country’s largest provider of rural credit to the giant Brazilian agriculture industry. The benefit of the line of credit to Harvest is threefold: not only will it assist the sales strategy of the Company’s commercial department providing an important marketing tool to offer clients, but it will also provide additional working capital flexibility with a decreased credit risk profile of its clients’ portfolio.
