DuSolo Provides Operational and Exploration Update at BomfimPre production begins
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Nov 24, 2014) - DuSolo Fertilizers Inc.,
(TSX VENTURE:DSF)(PINKSHEETS:ELGSF)(FRANKFURT:E6R) ("DuSolo" or "the Company") is pleased to provide an operational and exploration update for the Bomfim Project ("the Project"). The Company has recently commenced pre-production of Direct Application Natural Fertilizer ("DANF") and started a drilling campaign aimed at increasing existing resources, including areas of high grade resources.
DANF PRE-PRODUCTION
DuSolo commenced Stage 1 of DANF pre-production on October 14th, 2014 through an open pit mine at the Bomfim's Satiago Target. The Company extracted 10,384 tonnes of high-grade phosphate (>15% P2O5), of which 3,408 tonnes have been processed into three products of different grades (1,155 tonnes of 18% P2O5 product; 1,453 tonnes of 15% P2O5 product and 800 tonnes of 12% P2O5product). As of November 13th, 2014, the Company has halted mining operations (excavation and transporting) due to the current rainy season. However it will continue beneficiating the excavated material and stockpiling it in the on-site warehouse facility, as weather permits.
The Company prices the finished DANF product at an average of R$225.00 per tonne and foresees selling the remainder of all excavated material throughout the tail end of this 2014 planting season and into early Q1 2015.
FACILITY UPGRADES
DuSolo has received increasing demand for its DANF product and anticipates strong fertilizer sales during the 2015 planting seasons (February through April and August through November). As a result, the Company has decided to implement significant upgrades to the processing facility.
The Company expects these upgrades to double the facility's DANF production capacity from the current 80,000 tonnes per annum to 160,000 tonnes per annum by mid-Q1 2015. To achieve this increased capacity, DuSolo has scheduled the installation of three new hammer mills in conjunction with electrical infrastructure upgrades, additional conveyor belt installations and a new storage warehouse, for an estimated cost of US$1.5 million.
"We have managed to ramp up operations and achieve production targets, despite the challenges of the rainy season. Due to the positive market response and expected strong DANF sales during the next planting season, we are keen to complete upgrades to the plant as soon as possible", said Eran Friedlander DuSolo's President and CEO.
SCOUT DRILLING PROGRAM
The Company is also pleased to announce it has commenced a 2,000 meter scout drilling program ("the Program") that will combine both Reverse Circulation ("RC") (900 meters) and Diamond Drilling ("DC") (1,100 meters) methods. The Program is designed to identify additional high-grade domains to be further quantified by future systematic grid pattern drilling. At the same time, DuSolo's technical team also intends to better evaluate the Project's overall potential to host large tonnage, lower-grade resources, as part of the Company's long term strategy to implement a second stage of production development that will entail the use of flotation, in the development of more highly beneficiated fertilizer products.
The Company intends to achieve these objectives by:
(1) Drilling (DC+RC) the "exploration potential" as referred to in the NI 43-101 Initial Resource Calculation ("the Report") of the Santiago, Bomfim Hill (PZE) and the Amaury Targets. According to Coffey Mining Ltd., the Santiago Target alone has an exploration potential of an additional 10 to 20 million tonnes @ 5.5% to 10.0% P2O5 (see the Report released by the Company January 22nd, 2014).
(2) Drilling (DC) of recently identified high-grade areas at the Santiago Target's STP Domain that were not previously included in the Report. These new areas of high-grade outcropping phosphorite were identified during detailed mapping (1:10,000), in Q2 and Q3 2014.
(3) Scout-drilling (DC) the seven high-priority targets identified within the Project. Within these targets, significant field evidence suggest the presence of phosphate mineralization in both high-grade domains, and in lower-grade/larger tonnage domains.
"The team is excited to resume drilling at Bomfim. Our deepening understanding of this region's geology has clearly brought us success in the past and we intend to continue to replicate that same exploration strategy over the remaining potential" commented Paulo Amorim, DuSolo's VP of Exploration.
Geomina Sondagens ("Geomina"), a private Brazilian drilling company, has been contracted by DuSolo to undertake this 2,000 meter drilling program. Geomina has operated in an efficient and professional manner while executing all the past DC and RC drilling campaigns completed to date at the Project. Sample analysis will be undertaken by SGS Geosol - an internationally certified laboratory and an industry leader in providing analytical services to the mining industry.
Mauricio Prado, Bomfim's Project Manager, is a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") and has reviewed and approved the technical disclosures of this press release on behalf of the Company.
PHOTOS SHOWING PRE-PRODUCTION ACTIVITY AT BOMFIM NOVEMBER 2014:https://media3.marketwire.com/docs/980564_PRE-PRODUCTION.jpg
ABOUT DIRECT APPLICATION NATURAL FERTILIZER
DANF is an environmentally friendly, natural fertilizer product derived from high-grade phosphate rocks. DANF traditionally yields excellent solubility values that render the phosphorous more available for the plant's consumption over a longer period of time.
DANF can be used separately or alongside standard and more costly phosphate products (SSP/MAP), to reach the optimal P2O5levels in the soil. DANF is a flexible product that can be used in various formulations depending on the crop, soil-type and its fertile conditions. DANF can be used as a fertilizercorrector to improve the soil's overall condition and reach high nutrient levels, as afertilizer maintainer, to keep the phosphate levels elevated for coming years, and as a fertilizer replacement, to reload phosphate levels post crop harvesting.
Due to high levels of solubility (25-30% in citric acid) DANF provides a slower release of phosphorus, characterizing a residual effect. Moreover, on top of phosphorous, DANF is an important source of calcium that contributes to the correction of soil acidity.
DANF production follows a simple process in which the rock is excavated, dried, crushed, screened and milled, transforming the rock into a powder of different concentrations (12%, 15% and 18% P2O5). The product is easy to handle because of its high density, a factor that decreases losses during its deployment, hence providing farmers with uniform application over the fields.
Farmers in the Project region have become accustomed to using DANF on their crops over the past several years. Recent restrictions in domestic phosphate supply have forced them to import required products from distant places like Morocco, Tunisia, Peru and Israel. The resulting higher costs of transportation and logistics have been passed on to the customers.
DuSolo has recently become the only domestic supplier of DANF in the "Cerrado" region of Brazil, which is now the fastest growing agricultural district with the largest arable land package in the world. The availability of DANF fertilizer supplies, in the centre of the Cerrado growing district has and will continue enable current and potential customers to access a lower cost fertilizer product.
ABOUT THE COMPANY
DuSolo Fertilizers Inc. (TSX VENTURE:DSF)(PINKSHEETS:ELGSF)(FRANKFURT:E6R) is a Canadian based, low-cost phosphate producer operating in the world's fastest growing agricultural district - the Brazilian "Cerrado" where demand for fertilizers far exceeds domestic supply.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
DuSolo Fertilizers Inc.
Eran Friedlander, President