Quia Resources Inc. Plans To Build Low Cost, Cash Flow Generating Agromineral Projects

Former gold project developer Quia Resources Inc. QIA expects to capitalize on the trend towards healthy soil with its transformation into a builder of low-cost, cash-flow producing Direct Application Fertilizer projects to serve the fast-growing progressive farming market.

With an ever growing global population and finite amount of arable land, feeding a hungry world will become increasingly difficult. Over the past 50 years, a lot of attention has been paid to increasing yields through NPK fertilization, genetics and breeding. Today, the progressive farming community is focusing on soil as a living system, as an integral part of continuing to produce more and better food, and to do so on a sustainable basis. This is leading to the adoption of fertilization practices that are compatible with improving soil health and increasing life in the soil.

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Former gold project developer Quia Resources Inc. (TSXV: QIA) expects to capitalize on this trend towards healthy soil with its transformation into a builder of low-cost, cash-flow producing Direct Application Fertilizer (“DAF”) projects to serve these markets following the recently-announced sale of its San Lucas gold property in Colombia. 

“We saw that these markets for certain agricultural minerals that could be used as fertilizers in soil building and biological agriculture, although still niche in the greater agricultural context, are rapidly growing,” Quia Resources CEO Yannis Banks told SmallCapPower.com, adding that consumers are becoming more aware of what they eat, demanding higher quality food, as well as wanting to trace the source of that food. 

Mr. Banks cites regulations in Europe in regards to food source traceability, increasing environmental regulation around agricultural practices, and a move within agriculture to looking at promoting healthier soils as a key determinant of improving agricultural production, all of which are fueling growth in demand for biologically-friendly fertilizers, in his opinion.

“We’re right now at the beginnings, I think, of a major paradigm shift in agriculture,” he stated, believing these markets could really boom over the next decade or so. “Soil is an amazing thing once you begin to understand it, with tremendous power to facilitate the cycle of life and get plants what they need. The future is to empower that natural system, not kill it and substitute something which is inferior.”

For Quia Resources, the agrominerals business was also appealing in that a lot of these minerals can be developed for direct application. Agrominerals are more than just conventional potash and phosphate and also include a number of minerals that can supply potassium, phosphorous and many other key nutrients, which have been getting more attention recently, such as Direct Application Fertilizers (“DAFs”). DAFs, generally, are minimally processed rock dusts produced from quarries that contain essential nutrients for soils and plants. According to the company, DAFs are already the preferred fertilizers of organic and biodynamic growers as these growers cannot use many conventional fertilizers under organic guidelines. 

Quia’s Murdock Mountain phosphate project in Nevada, for example, is targeting the North American Direct Application phosphate market, which Mr. Banks thinks is tight in supply currently and growing, according to his company’s research.  

With Murdock Mountain, Quia plans to conduct a drill program, subject to receiving the appropriate permits from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), with the hopes of defining a 200,000 to 500,000 ton resource. Its initial objective is to produce 50,000 tons, which the company believes it can sell at around $80/ton, with the ultimate goal of increasing that to 100,000-150,000 tons/year of production as well as moving into higher value, higher margin products. Murdock Mountain also has the advantage of being close to the California market, one of the largest agricultural and organic markets globally.  

According to Mr. Banks, Direct Application Fertilizers require little processing. So, whereas a conventional phosphate project could cost hundreds of millions of dollars to build infrastructure, Direct Application involves a simple quarrying operation and Quia’s goal, then, is to put some of its projects into production for less than $5 million each.

The company believes this is achievable as it doesn’t have to build a processing plant, for example. Even the mining and crushing can be done on a contract basis, so that Quia isn’t required to invest much into infrastructure. 

In 2014, Quia Resources plans to continue advancing its Murdock Mountain project. As well, the company has initiated a targeting program aimed at identifying prospects for selected agrominerals in North America that could have high-growth market potential, and Mr. Banks says he expects his company’s portfolio of projects will grow in the coming year. 

Quia Resources currently has 24.37 million fully-diluted shares outstanding.  

To learn more about Quia Resources, please visit their SmallCapPower.com Investor Hub: Here

About Quia Resources Inc.

Quia Resources Inc. QIA is a mineral exploration and development company that is focused on agrominerals, including the Murdock Mountain direct application phosphate project in Nevada. The Company is also actively evaluating additional business opportunities in the agricultural sector.

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