(Alliance News) - Fertiliser firm Harvest Minerals Ltd said Tuesday it has expanded its mining and storage areas at the Arapua fertiliser project in Brazil in order to increase production, storage capacity and reduce costs.
The mining area has been expanded, and Harvest Minerals has started the groundwork to add a second product storage facility on the west side of the processing plant, which will raise the company's processing and loading flexibility.
In addition, Harvest will build a new and larger run of mine facility above the existing one. This has been designed so that the plant can be gravity fed by conveyor from the new pad, while being closer to the mine as volumes increased.
This is expected to reduce operating costs by reducing trucking costs to and from the ROM pads.
"At this stage we cannot determine the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, but it is obviously a variable and we are focussed on being able to meet any upside demand as a supplier into what is a huge local market. We have often stated that there is over 4.5 millihectares of soybean, sugarcane, maize and coffee grown locally to us and if there is any disruption to the supply of fertiliser from other providers into that market, we need to be in a position to supply that shortfall," said Executive Chair Brian McMaster.
"The expansion to our mining and storage capacity will enable us to do that and with a strong cash balance and no debt we are ideally positioned to emerge at the end of 2020 in an even stronger position than we entered," McMaster added.
Shares in Harvest Minerals closed 19% higher at 3.15 pence on Tuesday in London.
By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com
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Harvest Mi (di) (HMI)