If it's not Verte the kiln technology is what will get MAK off the ground. (Read below) Agree it may be Namibian first. Market cap is good value again, consider legend which is double..
BARTOW, FL, September 1, 2010 ? JDCPhosphate (JDCP) announced today that Minemakers Limited (MAK, Australian Stock Exchange and, from September 13 2010, Toronto Stock Exchange) has made an initial equity investment in JDCP of $1 million USD, consisting of equal parts cash and MAK shares, that JDCP will use to complete near term milestones as it prepares to raise funds to finance a minimum commercial scale demonstration plant (Demonstration Plant) to be located in Polk County, Florida. JDCP and MAK have also entered into a license agreement in which JDCP will license its proprietary kiln based phosphoric acid technology, known as the Improved Hard Process (IHP), to MAK for its potential use in projects in Australia and Namibia. JDCP has identified the construction and successful operation of the Demonstration Plant as the last critical step in validating IHP at minimum commercial scale. Significant laboratory testing and small batch pilot testing (and with respect to certain aspects of the technology, full pilot scale testing) of IHP points to the promise of IHP as a breakthrough technology with respect to significantly reduced production costs, increased tolerance for certain phosphate ore impurities, increased acid quality and reduced environmental footprint. JDCP?s business model is focused on licensing of its IHP intellectual property to phosphate companies on a global basis. In addition to licensing its intellectual property, JDCP plans to provide design, technical and maintenance support services to its licensees and to engage in internal phosphoric acid production to the extent required to evaluate and test market phosphoric acid, and products containing phosphoric acid, at commercial scale. JDCP will evaluate other opportunities to employ its technology with recycled and waste phosphate bearing material as well. IHP has been designed to process low grade phosphate rock, silica and petroleum coke to produce a relatively pure and concentrated form of phosphoric acid (around 70% P2O5) suitable for use in solid and liquid fertilizers and for use in technical and industrial applications. JDCP expects that IHP, once validated at scale, will: 1) significantly increase the usable reserves of phosphate ore around the world; 2) reduce the operating costs associated with processing phosphate ore into high quality phosphoric acid; and 3) have a smaller environmental footprint than existing processes, without producing phosphogypsum or other high volume waste materials, and with minimal emissions and minimal water usage requirements. IHP has been designed to produce acid suitable for high value industrial and technical applications (and in many cases, without the need for additional purification processing), at much lower cost than existing processes. The tolerance of IHP for common contaminants found in phosphate ore holds the promise of significantly increasing global reserves of phosphate, an essential nonrenewable resource critical to plant and human life. Subject to further test work and trials on phosphate ore from the MAK deposit in Wonarah in Australia, Minemakers will have exclusive rights in Australia to construct and operate an acid plant using JDCP?s IHP proprietary technology for a period of up to 7 years, based on certain performance criteria specified in the licensing agreement. MAK and JDCP believe that compelling capital and operating cost benefits could accrue to its Wonarah project, relative to the use of wet acid process technology, not the least of which are: significant logistical cost savings associated with transporting less material to the port of Darwin (as concentrated phosphoric acid, using IHP); and the potential to produce higher value phosphoric acid.
AEV Price at posting:
33.3¢ Sentiment: LT Buy Disclosure: Held
(20min delay)