Fertiliser producer Harvest Minerals has expanded the current mining area and added additional run-of-mine storage capacity at its Arapua Project in Brazil, it announced on Monday.

The AIM-traded firm produces ‘KPFértil’, a multi-nutrient direct application natural remineraliser, at the Arapua Project.

It said it had increased the size of the current open pit by stripping the soil cover from an area of around 6,000 square metres, and exposing about 70 kilotonnes of weathered kamafugite, which was being mined using its own equipment.

Due to the heavily weathered nature of the ore, the board said it required no blasting and was being loaded onto trucks by a loader to be taken to the run-of-mine storage area.

As part of the work, a new run-of-mine storage area was created adjacent to the pit.

In total, around 10 kilotonnes of topsoil was removed and stored in the organic stockpile, where it would be used for environmental restoration at a later date.

“In order to meet current sales and to ensure we have sufficient stock for the start of next season, we have expanded the current mining area,” said Harvest Minerals executive chairman Brian McMaster.

“Additionally, given the growing demand for our product in tandem with planned growth, we have also expanded our run-of-mine storage facilities.”

McMaster said that gave the company more flexibility both in how it handled its ore, but also in how it could further develop its production and product storage facilities going forward to enable it to better service its customers.

“This follows our recent announcement regarding the newly approved big bag handling and storage facility, again to help us to service a broader range of clients.”

Fonte: ShareCast