TIDMSRES
Sunrise Resources Plc
09 May 2022
9 May 2022
SUNRISE RESOURCES PLC
("Sunrise" or "the Company")
KEY ROLE FOR NATURAL POZZOLAN IN CEMENT DECARBONISATION IN
WESTERN USA
Sunrise Resources plc wishes to provide the following
information to shareholders regarding the importance of natural
pozzolan to carbon-neutrality and sustainability in the future of
the cement and concrete industries.
Key Points
-- Natural pozzolan:
Ø has a key role in multiple CO(2) net-zero strategies in the
cement and concrete industries.
Ø is of interest to aspiring clean-tech cement producers as well
as traditional heavy industries and building material
suppliers.
Ø has a role in building more durable and sustainable concrete
structures.
Ø will benefit from recent California State legislation and
Implementation Priorities under Biden's $1.2 trillion
Infrastructure Bill.
-- Production of pozzolan cement is a win-win for cement
companies looking to extend their cement production capacity.
Commenting today, Executive Chairman Patrick Cheetham said:
"From my recent discussions with cement companies, it is becoming
increasingly clear that a range of net-zero CO(2) strategies in the
cement and concrete industries, the requirements for
sustainability, and the long-term decline in fly ash supply are
driving cement and concrete companies towards the use of natural
pozzolan.
The manufacture of pozzolan blended cements is a win-win for the
cement and concrete companies as not only does it allow them to
reduce the embodied carbon in their products, it also increases
their cement production per ton of cement clinker capacity at a
time when they are already operating at full capacity and sold out
of cement.
Given these drivers impacting on the US cement and concrete
industries, our CS and Hazen Pozzolan Projects are well placed to
help industry in pursuit of these goals."
The Role Of Natural Pozzolan In CO(2) Net-Zero Strategies
In its announcement of 4 May 2022, the Company stated that the
development of its CS Natural Pozzolan-Perlite Project is taking
place against a background of fundamental change in the cement and
concrete industries; a change which is being driven by climate
change targets to achieve net-zero CO(2) emissions.
After water, concrete is the most used substance on Earth.
Whilst 14 billion cubic metres of concrete were poured globally in
2020, this is forecast to increase to 20 billion cubic metres
annually by 2050 with continuing global urbanisation and population
growth. This activity is currently responsible for 8% of the
World's man-made emissions, half of which comes from the burning of
fuel and the other half by direct release of CO(2) from burning
limestone in the cement clinker making process.
Net-zero CO(2) targets are therefore a major challenge for the
cement and concrete industries but one they must meet. In the US,
as elsewhere around the World, these targets are enshrined in State
legislation, industry-body commitments and are increasingly driven
by cement and concrete customers and specifiers. In addition, one
of the Implementation Priorities in US President Biden's November
2021 Executive Order "Implementation of the $1.2 trillion
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act" is "building infrastructure
that is resilient and that helps combat the crisis of climate
change". It seems likely then that priority will be given to
greener and more sustainable building materials in contracts
awarded under the Infrastructure Bill.
California is a major target market for the Company's CS Project
and has the largest economy of all the US States. In September
2021, in the first law of its kind in the US, California's Carbon
Cap-and-Trade scheme was signed into legislation and directly
targets greenhouse gas emissions associated with the cement
industry. This Cement Decarbonization legislation is focused on
achieving net-zero emissions from the industry by the end of 2045.
It works by putting a periodically declining limit on carbon
emissions for a given entity, allows those entities to trade unused
allowances but imposes fines on any entity exceeding its allowance.
Experts believe this will pave the way for similar Federal
legislation in the US. 2021 also saw the publication by The US
Portland Cement Association of its road map to carbon neutrality. A
key component for this road map is the reduction in the quantity of
cement used in cement and concrete mixes through the use of
supplementary cementitious materials ("SCMs") such as natural
pozzolan.
It is important to understand how the cement industry is
addressing net-zero carbon targets and how natural pozzolan can
play a key role. There are a number of strategies currently being
employed in the cement industry, including:
-- Use of alternative clean(er) fuels. e.g. biomass, chemical
and hazardous waste, and petroleum-based fuels but also natural
gas; wind energy; hydroelectric power; solar energy; hydrogen; and
nuclear energy.
-- Carbon capture and storage. In its most basic form CO(2) is
captured from the cement kiln where the fuel is burned and where
CO(2) is released from burnt limestone. The captured CO(2) is
stored in underground geological reservoirs such as spent oil or
gas fields.
-- Carbon curing. CO(2) is captured at the cement plant then
liquified and transported with cement to the concrete ready-mix
plant where it is reinjected into the concrete mix in the mixing
truck. Here it combines with the concrete mix and becomes locked
into the concrete mix and assists in concrete curing.
-- Manufacture of so-called "clean-tech" cements. These cement
technologies do not produce Ordinary Portland Cement ("OPC") but
produce alternative cements by innovative carbon-neutral methods
rather than OPC. These cements can be used in partial or full
replacement of OPC.
-- Production of 1L (limestone) cement. C.10% limestone blended
with OPC with clinker. 10% reduction in CO(2) emission per ton of
cement produced. An easy win for the cement companies as limestone
is always available locally as the main source of cement
clinker.
-- Production of cements containing natural pozzolan or slag. e.g.
-- 1P (pozzolan) cement. Up to 30% natural pozzolan blended with
OPC. Up to 30% reduction in CO(2) emission per ton of cement.
Natural pozzolan can replace fly ash pozzolan in cement or
concrete. Fly ash supply is declining due to the ongoing closure of
coal fired power stations.
-- 1S (slag) cement. Up to 30% blast furnace slag pozzolan
blended with OPC. Up to 30% reduction in CO(2) emission per ton of
cement. Blast furnace slag is restricted in production quantities
and locations.
The role of natural pozzolan in sustainable development
In addition to building greener structures, a key part of
sustainability in the concrete industry is the building of more
durable structures with longer life.
Whereas "Roman concrete" structures made with natural pozzolan
have survived for millennia, some concrete structures from parts of
the 20(th) century made with OPC are susceptible to "concrete
cancer". This is due to reaction of alkalis in OPC with "reactive"
silica in concrete aggregates and results in expansion, cracking
and spalling of the concrete (Alkali Silica Reaction or "ASR").
As high-quality aggregate supplies for concrete become scarcer,
the concrete industry is having to use more reactive aggregates
that can severely impact the quality of the resulting concrete.
The use of high quality SCMs such as natural pozzolan will
mitigate ASR by tying up and immobilising the alkalis in cement,
preventing their reaction with silica in the aggregates. So much so
that the use of pozzolans is often mandated by State Departments of
Transport for public infrastructure construction work to ensure
more sustainable structures.
Sustainability, and ASR mitigation in particular, is therefore a
significant factor in choosing the use of natural pozzolan in
net-zero CO(2) strategies.
Of all the strategies being adopted by the cement and concrete
industries, only the use of SCMs can mitigate ASR and so we expect
to see natural pozzolan used in conjunction with other CO(2)
reduction strategies.
Use of natural pozzolan is a win-win for cement companies
In order for cement companies to reduce the embodied carbon in
their cements it helps if there is a strong business case for doing
so. Cap-and-Trade is a "carrot and stick" approach and customers
and specifiers are increasingly looking for greener cements.
The use of 1P cement not only provides for more durable and
sustainable concrete with lower embodied carbon but it also allows
the cement company to sell more cement per ton of OPC clinker
capacity. The production of cement clinker in the cement kiln is
often the volume limiting step to cement production at a cement
plant.
This is an important consideration particularly as cement
companies are currently operating at capacity and are all sold
out.
These ongoing developments serve to strengthen the place of
natural pozzolans in future cement formulations and the CS Project
is well placed, being fully permitted and ready to mine.
As stated in its news release of 4 May 2022, the Company is
currently in discussions with two large CRMCs, one major fly ash
distributor, a building materials company and a clean-tech company.
Field visits were recarried out by certain interested parties at
both Hazen and the CS Project in the past two weeks.
Further information:
Sunrise Resources plc Tel: +44 (0)1625 838 884
Patrick Cheetham, Executive
Chairman
Tel: +44 (0)207 628 3396
Beaumont Cornish Limited
Nominated Adviser
James Biddle/Roland Cornish
Tel: +44 (0)207 469 0930
Peterhouse Capital Limited
Broker
Lucy Williams/Duncan Vasey
Shares in the Company trade on AIM. EPIC: "SRES". Website:
www.sunriseresourcesplc.com
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