I did.
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - March 22, 2010) - Amazon Mining Holding Plc (TSX VENTURE:AMZ) ("Amazon" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce that the Company has entered into an agreement with Sekita Agronegocios ("Sekita"), a leading Brazilian based agribusiness company, to fund agronomic tests using Amazon Mining's proposed ThermoPotash product derived from the Cerrado Verde project.
Cerrado Verde is a source of potash rich rock from which Amazon plans to produce a slow-release, non-chloride, multi-nutrient, fertilizer product. Cerrado Verde, which is amenable to open pit mining, is located in central Minas Gerais in the heart of Brazil's vast Cerrado agricultural area.
Sekita plans to test ThermoPotash in real world conditions for use with garlic, carrots, corn, soybeans, wheat and grazing grass for dairy cattle. Sekita is a leading Brazilian carrot, garlic and milk producer. Its farms are located less than 10km from the Cerrado Verde Project. This region accounts for nearly one third of Brazil's carrot production. Carrot plantation requires up to four times more potash per hectare per year than crops like soybeans or corn. Sekita already uses ThermoPhosphate, a slow release highly efficient phosphate fertilizer that share's many of the characteristics and much of the production process of Amazon's proposed ThermoPotash. Sekita hopes to utilize the slow release characteristics of ThermoPotash to provide a more sustainable and more efficient source of potash.
Commenting on the agreement, Cristiano Veloso, President & CEO said: "Sekita has used state of the art technology over the years in order to become one of Brazil's most efficient agribusiness companies. We are pleased to work along this local group to develop a more sustainable and efficient potash fertilizer."
About Sekita
Sekita Agribusiness is one of the largest Brazilian producers of vegetables. Established in the 1970's, it currently has 350 permanent employees working in the production of garlic, carrots, corn, soybeans, wheat and milk. Their productive activities are distributed over 3000 hectares of farmland, located directly adjacent to Amazon's Cerrado Verde project. The group was one of the pioneers in adapting many crop plantation techniques to the Cerrado, Brazil's savannah, including the use of slow-release ThemoPhosphate fertilizer, limestone soil pH adjustment and crop rotation to control pests. Sekita carrots are famous throughout Brazil, It has also recently become one of the largest milk producers in the country.
About the Agreement
The memorandum of understanding between Amazon Mining and Sekita governs the testing of ThermoPotash product from the pilot plant production. Under the terms of the agreement, Amazon will provide ThermoPotash to Sekita for use in planting garlic, carrots, corn, soybeans, wheat and grazing grass for dairy cattle. Sekita will designate test plots and fund all costs associated with the testing. Sekita's investments will cover yield comparisons and chemical analysis of nutrient behaviour in the soil. The companies will jointly define the period in which the fertilizer is employed and the stages of study. Data from the studies will be jointly owned by Amazon and Sekita to be used for further development of the product, product marketing and project financing. Sekita will have pre-emptive right to the acquisition of 15% of potential ThermoPotash production at market price for a period of 24 months, in the event of successful commissioning of a ThermoPotash production facility by Amazon Mining.