Riverfort Regulatory News (RGO)

23 Feb 2009 07:00



23 February 2009

Viridas PLC

Contract signed with Leading South American Agriculture 

Management and Consulting Business

Viridas PLC, a company planning to develop 120 square miles of jatropha plantation in Brazil to produce EU compliant sustainable jatropha biofuel is pleased to announce that it has signed an agronomy development and farm management contract with Cazenave, a leading South American Agribusiness management and consulting company.

Cazenave has been working with Viridas for over a year, on a trial jatropha plantation in the Minas Gerias region of Brazil, to develop a jatropha oil which will meets the EU sustainability and Green House Gas emission requirements for biofuels. This new contract will cover the further development of the planned plantation in Bahia and general consultancy support regarding agronomy and specific advice on the growing of jatropha.

Cazenave has over 40 years expertise in the management of agricultural projects in South America and advises governments and leading multinationals such as the World Bank and Cargill.

Viridas already has in place a ten year Supply and Development agreement with INEOS Enterprises, the largest independent distiller of petroleum products in Europe, covering the purchase, by INEOS Enterprises, up to 60,000 tonnes per annum of crude jatropha oil once commercial levels of production have been reached.

Stanley Wootliff, Executive Chairman of Viridas commented:

"The growing EU demand for compliant sustainable biodiesel is enormous. With Cazenave and INEOS we have strong partners in place with whom we are building  a business with high sustainability values at its core to enable us to meet EU standards and realise the full financial benefits."

Antonio Parsons, Director, Cazenave added:

"Growing Jatropha in Brazil makes sound economic sense and we are looking forward to developing a significant plantation with Viridas with sustainability values at its core."

For further information please contact:

  Editors Notes

About Viridas:

Since 2007, on its trial plantation in Minas Gerias, Viridas has been researching and developing agronomy techniques for the growing of jatropha on an industrial scale, for the production of Crude Jatropha OiL

Building on this experience Viridas aims to develop industrial scale jatropha plantations with both the agronomy and all aspects of production fully managed and controlled by Viridas on land which it owns or holds on long lease hold.

The Crude Jatropha Oil Viridas plans to produce is a sustainable, perennial non food vegetable oil from reforestation trees planted on idle land.