TIDMHMI
RNS Number : 5669K
Harvest Minerals Limited
23 April 2020
To view the announcement with the illustrative photos and
diagrams please use the following link:
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/5669K_1-2020-4-22.pdf
Harvest Minerals Limited / Index: LSE / Epic: HMI / Sector:
Mining
23 April 2020
Harvest Minerals Limited ('Harvest' or the 'Company')
Outstanding Results of Long Term Testwork with Coffee
Harvest Minerals Limited, the AIM listed remineraliser producer,
is pleased to announce the results of the long term agronomic
trials on coffee of KPfértil, its direct application natural
remineraliser produced at the Company's 100% owned Arapua
Fertiliser Project in Brazil ('Arapua').
Highlights
-- Testwork conducted by independent consultants Santinato &
Santinato Cafés Ltda since 2017
-- Results confirm KPfértil can be used to replace conventional
fertilisers as a source of potassium and phosphate
-- Results in coffee are enhanced when used in association with coffee compost (coffee straw)
-- KPfértil increases the value of the coffee produced by
increasing the proportion of the largest coffee cherries and
yield
Brian McMaster, Executive Chairman of Harvest stated, "These
results are outstanding and confirm the results of our earlier
testwork proving that KPfértil can and should replace the use of
conventional fertilisers. As we have progressed with the
development and marketing of KPfértil, our understanding of its use
and benefits has continued to grow. This is a view echoed by the
feedback we are receiving from our customers, our testwork and
field demonstrations we are conducting with clients and
co-operatives ."
LATEST COFFEE TEST RESULTS
Background
Santinato & Santinato Cafés Ltda ('Santinato'), a renowned
agronomic consulting company in Brazil specialising in coffee
cultivation, has been conducting trials since 2017 on the
suitability of KPfértil as a source of potassium ('K') and
phosphate ('P') for coffee plants at one of the Veloso Agropecuária
('Veloso') coffee plantations in Minas Gerais state, Brazil.
The trials consisted of two years of applying a potassium and
phosphate fertiliser and a third final year of applying no
additional source of potassium and phosphate (fertiliser
suppression) to test the effectiveness of different sources of
potassium and phosphate. All the soil fertility parameters were
measured in May each year, before the peak nutrient extraction by
the plants for harvest between May and July in Brazil. All the
biometric measurements were made just before the harvest and the
productivity, maturation and income measurements were
post-harvest.
In total, four experiments were conducted using the following
sources of potassium and phosphate:
-- T1 - Control - No additional sources of K and P applied
-- T2 - Conventional sources - Muriate of Potash (KCl) and Simple superphosphate (SSP) applied
-- T3 - 100% KP KPfértil - applied to match the K(2) O applied in T2
-- T4 - KP KPfértil and coffee straw (coffee husks from previous
harvests - see figure 1) - applied to match 60% of K(2) O applied
in T2 due to application of 5t/ha of coffee straw annually
The application rate of nutrients during each season was as
follows:
-- Year 1 (2017) - 350 kg / ha (N); 80 kg / ha (P(2) O(5) ) and 200 kg / ha (K(2) O)
-- Year 2 (2018) - 300 kg / ha (N); 80 kg / ha (P(2) O(5) ) and 350 kg / ha (K(2) O)
-- Year 3 (2019) - 300 kg / ha of N
-- In the third year, no additional K or P was applied.
Figure 1: Coffee husks (straw) and applied to coffee plants with
KPfértil
Results
Soil pH
The soil pH describes how acid or alkaline the soil is. A pH of
7.0 is neutral and a value below 7.0 is considered acidic. In
Brazil, soils are typically acidic, ranging between 4.4 and
5.0.
To achieve production from acidic soils, it is necessary to
apply sufficient lime to eliminate the toxicity of Al(3+) and
Mn(2+) , as well as supply adequate levels of Ca(2+) and Mg(2+) .
This creates conditions that will maximise the uptake of the
essential nutrients as well as control soil pathogens.
Figure 2: Change in soil pH over three years in the four
experiments
As can be seen in figure 2, the experiments with KPfértil and
with KPfértil and Coffee Straw have a much better soil pH. This is
because KPfértil contains both Calcium (Ca) and Magnesium (Mg),
which neutralise soil acidity whereas the traditional KCl contains
salt and chlorides which further acidify the soil. As the pH in
both experiments including KPfértil remains above 6.0, it also
creates an environment which favours nitrification by soil
bacteria, an important step in the nitrogen cycle in soil.
Base Saturation in Soil
Base saturation refers to the percentage of cations in the soil
which are occupied by basic cations and not taken by acidic cations
(Al(3+) and H(+) ). It gives another indication of the acidity of
the soil, what is making up the Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) and
what level of nutrients the soil can retain and release.
Figure 3: Base saturation over three years
As can be seen in figure 5, the experiments with KPfértil and
with KPfértil + Coffee Straw have an increasingly higher base
saturation over the conventional fertilisers, indicating that the
soil is better able to retain and release nutrients.
Calcium in Soil
Calcium has two major effects in soil. Firstly it reduces soil
acidity, by binding to cations in the soil and thus preventing
acidic cations and secondly it acts to bind organic and inorganic
material to develop good soil structure.
Figure 4: Ca in soil
As expected, the results (figure 4) show signifcantly higher
residual calcium in the soil from the KPfértil treatments compared
to the conventional treatments.
Magnesium in Soil
Magnesium acts similarly to calcium in soil and is an essential
nutrient for plant growth, being critical for photosynthesis as a
key component for Chlorophyll. The results show that using coffee
straw with KPfértil greatly helps with the retention of Mg in the
soil over conventional fertiliser or KPfértil in isolation.
Figure 5: Mg in soil
Residual Phosphorous in Soil
Phosphorous is an essential macro-nutrient for plants and is
required for metabolic processes including photosynthesis, so it is
important to ensure there is sufficient readily available
phosphorus in the soil for the plants. As coffee has a heavy
requirement for phosphorus, it is important to maintain levels
above 40 mg/ dm(3) .
The use of KPfértil resulted in an increase in phosphorous
content in the soil over both the medium and long term when applied
alone or alongside the coffee straw, indicating that KPfértil
continues to act as a slow release source of phosphorous and is
able to maintain adequate levels of nutrition compared to
conventional sources even after a year of none being applied.
Figure 6: Residual P in soil
Residual Potassium in Soil
Like phosphate, potassium is also a key macro-nutrient in plants
. The potassium content in the soil was highest in the first two
years using the conventional KCl, however fell substantially in the
first year of suppression of the nutrient, as it has low permanence
due to being easily leached. Although the level of potassium in the
soil was lower for KPfértil, it was able to maintain the correct
level for coffee cultivation (3 to 5% of CTC) for longer, notably
with the association with coffee straw even during the first year
of suppression.
Figure 7: Residual K in soil
Percentage of cherries in the largest size category
Whilst variety, supply and demand have an impact on price of
coffee cherries, the largest impact on the value of the cherries
independent of market conditions is the size of the cherries. After
the Harvest the cherries were analysed by passing them through a
series of sieves. The results show that using KPfértil either with
or without coffee straw increased the proportion of cherries in the
largest size category and therefore the value of the crop.
Figure 8: Percentage of coffee cherries in the largest size
classification
Percentage value held in the largest cherries
The percentage value is calculated as the percentage of
processed coffee produced after drying and peeling the harvested
coffee. Obviously the higher the amount of coffee produced, the
higher the value. Figure 9 shows that all three applications
produce significantly higher coffee than the control with KPfértil
producing the most.
Figure 9: % of value held in largest cherries
Overall, the application of KPfértil either with or without
coffee straw produces the most coffee in the largest size
classification.
Conclusions
The conclusions made by Santinato in its report were as
follows:
1. KPFértil should be used in the planting furrow to replace
P(2) O(5) for coffee plants supplied by conventional
fertilisers.
2. KPFértil should be used in adult crops to partially replace
(<30%) of K(2) O in the first year and an increasing amount in
subsequent years.
3. When used in association with coffee straw and / or other
organic sources, the results of using KPFértil are enhanced.
*S*
For further information, please visit www.harvestminerals.net or
contact:
Harvest Minerals Limited Brian McMaster (Chairman) Tel: +44 (0) 203
Dr Mark Heyhoe 940 6625
(COO)
Strand Hanson Limited James Spinney Tel: +44 (0) 20 7409
Nominated & Financial Ritchie Balmer 3494
Adviser Jack Botros
Shard Capital Partners Damon Heath Tel: +44 (0) 20 7186
Broker 9900
St Brides Partners Ltd Charlotte Page Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236
Financial PR Beth Melluish 1177
Notes
Harvest Minerals Limited (HMI.L) is an AIM-quoted low-cost and
high margin Brazilian remineraliser producer, located in the heart
of the largest and fastest growing fertiliser market in Brazil.
The company's product, KPFértil, is a registered and approved
organic multi-nutrient direct application fertiliser. It contains
many of the essential nutrients and minerals required by plants
and, unlike most fertilisers, it does not require any complex
processing or chemically alteration, instead it can be applied
directly to crops.
KPFértil is produced at the wholly owned Arapua project, that
consists of a fully permitted mine, production and storage
facilities able to produce and deliver KPFértil to customers. Known
mineralisation at the Project is expected to support 100+ years'
production at 450Ktpa.
Harvest's focus now remains on growing its business and the
Company have the dedicated in-country sales and marketing team with
the skills, experience and contacts to sell KPFértil into the
potential multi-Mtpa market on the doorstep of the project.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014
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END
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