Itafos announced that it has commenced technical studies related to Itafos Conda organic growth projects, including anhydrous hydrogen fluoride and precipitated silica (“AHF/PS”) by-product recovery and on-site ammonia production, as part of the Company’s strategic focus on optimizing Itafos Conda’s EBITDA generation capability. The Company expects to provide a further update on the respective technical studies by Q1 2021.
The AHF/PS by-product recovery initiative aims at improving Itafos Conda’s EBITDA generation capability by extracting and commercializing high-value by-products AHF and PS without impacting Itafos Conda’s manufacturing process. The initiative contemplates the extraction of fluoride, in the form of silico-fluoride, from the tailings pond water at Itafos Conda via continuous ion exchange (“CIX”) and conversion to AHF and PS considering a patented process. To advance the development of the initiative, the Company has engaged leading third parties to conduct pilot plant testing and complete a front-end engineering design (“FEED”) study, which are expected to be completed over an 18-month timeframe. The next milestone in advancing the development of the initiative is concentrating silico-fluoride via CIX at pilot scale, which is expected to be completed by Q1 2021.
The on-site ammonia production initiative aims at improving Itafos Conda’s EBITDA generation capability by reducing the cost and stabilizing the supply of ammonia to Itafos Conda by producing ammonia on-site to meet Itafos Conda’s fertilizer production requirements and commercializing any excess production. The initiative contemplates the installation of a skid-mounted, small-scale ammonia plant at Itafos Conda using natural gas as feedstock. The initiative is expected to rely upon mature Haber-Bosch technology, recently made viable at small scale due to flexible steam-methane reforming and skid-mounted ammonia synthesis, and to leverage the existing natural gas pipeline infrastructure at Itafos Conda. To advance the development of the initiative, the Company has engaged a leading third party to complete a feasibility study, which is expected to be completed by Q1 2021.
About Itafos
The Company is a pure play phosphate and specialty fertilizer platform with an attractive portfolio of strategic businesses and projects located in key fertilizer markets, including North America, South America and Africa.
The Company’s businesses and projects are as follows:
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For further information, please contact:
Itafos Investor Relations
investor@itafos.com
www.itafos.com