TORONTO, May 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --
Verde Potash (TSX: "NPK")
("Verde" or the "Company") is pleased to announce its unaudited
interim consolidated financial statements for the three month
period ended March 31, 2012. During
the three-month period ended March 31,
2012, Verde incurred a net loss of $1,070,000 compared to a net loss of $689,000 for the three-month period ended
March 31, 2011. Verde currently has a
working capital position of approximately $28.8MM. The Company maintains a strong cash
position and continues to progress with the development of the
Cerrado Verde potash project.
Highlights of the First Quarter
As a result of a large drilling program in 2011, the Group
expanded its resource estimate for the Cerrado Verde Potash
project. The current resource estimate comprises an indicated
resource of 71 million tonnes with an average grade of 9.22%
K2O and an inferred resource of 2.8 billion tonnes with
an average grade of 8.91% K2O (applying a 7.5%
K2O cut-off). The drilling program defined
sub-horizontal potash mineralization from surface to a maximum
depth of 85m, rendering the resource amenable to open pit
mining.
Together with an engineering consortium, the Group made
significant progress in deriving an economic scalable production
flow sheet for Potassium Chloride ("KCl"). The production flow
sheet is based on tests conducted using the Company's continuous
pilot plant (8m length x 0.4m diameter) in Brazil as well as a demonstration plant at
FLSmidth's facilities in Allentown,
Pennsylvania. Based on this flow sheet, SRK completed a
Preliminary Economic Assessment, considering the technical and
financial aspects of two production scenarios. The first scenario
considers initial production of 0.6 million tonnes per year
("Mtpy") of KCl with Capex of $598M
starting production in 2015 and ramping up to 3Mtpy in 2019. The
second scenario considers initial production of 1 Mtpy with Capex
of $868M increasing to 4 Mtpy.
During the quarter, the Company hosted an analyst site visit to
FLSmidth's testing facilities in Allentown, Pennsylvania. FLSmidth, part of
Verde's engineering consortium, operated a pilot plant for the
production of KCl for 3 days, during which over 8 tonnes of raw
material were fed to a preheater rotary kiln (9.14m length x 0.91m
diameter), and the conversion of potassium silicate into KCl was
demonstrated.
The Group completed a bought deal public offering of 4,457,364
Ordinary Shares for net proceeds of approximately $26.6 million at a price of $6.45 per share.
Soon after, the ordinary shares of the Company were listed and
posted for trading on April 11, 2012,
on the TSX, under the symbol "NPK". Previously the Company had been
listed on the TSX Venture Exchange.
Cristiano Veloso, President &
CEO, said: "We have succeeded in producing conventional potash,
KCl, on a semi-commercial scale with the assistance of some of the
world's most respected engineering companies. Given our location in
the Brazilian Cerrado, our project's total delivered cost will
potentially make the Company one of the cheapest suppliers of KCl
to Brazil's booming agriculture
market. After concluding a capital raise this last quarter, we are
fully funded to proceed with work on a bankable feasibility study
expected to be completed in the first half of 2013".
Verde's Q1/2012 Financial Statements and Management's Discussion
and Analysis (MD&A) are available at http://www.sedar.com and
on the Company's website, http://www.verdepotash.com
2012 Annual General Meeting
The Company's 2012 Annual General Meeting for shareholders will
be held on Friday, June
29th at 10:00 a.m. Eastern
Time, at 333 Bay Street, Suite 2400, Toronto, ON
M5H 2T6.
About Verde
Potash
Verde is a fertilizer exploration and development company; it
was founded and is led by Brazilians. Verde is developing the
Cerrado Verde project in Brazil, a
source of potash-rich rock from which the Company plans to produce
a potash fertilizer product. Founded as Amazon Mining Holding Plc
in 2005, the Company changed its name to Verde Potash Plc in
April 2011 to better reflect its core
business.
About the Cerrado Verde Potash
Project
Cerrado Verde is a unique project: 1) its high grade potash rock
outcrops and is amenable to strip mining, allowing fast
construction of a scalable operation; 2) it is located in the midst
of the world's third largest and fastest growing fertilizer market;
3) it connects to Brazil's largest
fertilizer distribution districts via existing and high quality
infrastructure.
Cautionary Language and Forward Looking Statements
NEITHER THE TSX EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER
(AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX EXCHANGE)
ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS
RELEASE. THIS PRESS RELEASE CONTAINS CERTAIN "FORWARD LOOKING
STATEMENTS", WHICH INCLUDE BUT IS NOT LIMITED TO, STATEMENTS WITH
RESPECT TO THE FUTURE FINANCIAL OR OPERATING PERFORMANCE OF THE
COMPANY, ITS SUBSIDIARIES AND ITS PROJECTS, AND STATEMENTS
REGARDING USE OF PROCEEDS. FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS CAN GENERALLY
BE IDENTIFIED BY THE USE OF WORDS SUCH AS "PLANS", "EXPECTS", OR
"DOES NOT EXPECT" OR "IS EXPECTED", "ANTICIPATES" OR "DOES NOT
ANTICIPATE", OR "BELIEVES", "INTENDS", "FORECASTS", "BUDGET",
"SCHEDULED", "ESTIMATES" OR VARIATIONS OF SUCH WORDS OR PHRASES OR
STATE THAT CERTAIN ACTIONS, EVENT, OR RESULTS "MAY", "COULD",
"WOULD", "MIGHT", OR "WILL BE TAKEN", "OCCUR" OR "BE ACHIEVED".
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS INVOLVE KNOWN AND UNKNOWN RISKS,
UNCERTAINTIES AND OTHER FACTORS WHICH MAY CAUSE THE ACTUAL RESULTS,
PERFORMANCE OR ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE COMPANY TO BE MATERIALLY
DIFFERENT FROM ANY FUTURE RESULTS, PERFORMANCE OR ACHIEVEMENTS
EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED BY SAID
STATEMENTS. THERE CAN BE NO ASSURANCES THAT FORWARD-LOOKING
STATEMENTS WILL PROVE TO BE ACCURATE, AS ACTUAL RESULTS AND FUTURE
EVENTS COULD DIFFER MATERIALLY FROM THOSE ANTICIPATED IN SAID
STATEMENTS. ACCORDINGLY, READERS SHOULD NOT PLACE UNDUE RELIANCE ON
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS.
Readers are cautioned not to rely solely on the summary of such
information contained in this release and are directed to the
complete set of drill results posted on Verde's website
(http://www.verdeplc.com) and filed on SEDAR (http://www.sedar.com)
and any future amendments to such. Readers are also directed to the
cautionary notices and disclaimers contained herein.
For further information:
Cristiano Veloso,
President & Chief Executive Officer, Tel: +1(416)866-2966; Fax:
+1(416)866-8829; Email: cv@verdepotash.com
http://www.verdepotash.com
