Aguia (ASX:AGR) advancing Brazilian phosphate and copper projects at brisk pace

Highlights

• AGR was granted the construction licence for its Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) located phosphate project during the December quarter.
• Agronomical tests demonstrated improved forage grass production levels with use of AGR’s organic Pampafos® fertiliser.
• At the copper project, infill drill program established high-grade Cu zone within the existing Copper Mineral Resource area.
• Separately, the company received a government grant to carry forward its green copper processing activities.
• AGR has outlined exploration plans for the March quarter across the projects.

Aguia Resources Limited (ASX: AGR), a multi-commodity company, has been making significant progress across its Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) located phosphate and copper projects. The recently released December 2022 quarterly activities report highlights the company’s continued progress in terms of advancing its projects into production. 

Besides, the report talks about Aguia’s March 2023 quarter plans, including the completion of copper project’s infill drilling program (25 drill holes), development with respect to innovative green copper processing, and review of the phosphate project’s engineering requirements.

Project location (Image source: AGR PPT)

Below are the major developments recorded during the December 2022 quarter.

Phosphate Project – construction licence, encouraging agronomic trials

The company’s phosphate project was granted construction licence in the last quarter, and the State Secretary for the Environment termed the project as ‘emblematic’, the report mentions. The project is located in the Southernmost State of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil), which is one of the largest grain producers in the country. The recently granted construction licence, AGR says, is a big de-risking in the way of construction and production, with now only the last permitting process phase of Operation Licence for the project remaining.

Aguia states that its Pampafos® fertiliser is organic, and the processing process is also sustainable. The company says that during the December 2022 quarter, it took further its agronomical tests, with remarkable results of Pampafos® on pasture and wheat.

Image description: Summary of agronomic test results since 2020

Image source: AGR’s December 2022 Quarterly Activities Report

Notably, the phosphate fertiliser is already tested on varied crops including soybean, rice, corn, and oats, with all results coming out positive.

The test results on pasture showed that the spreading of P₂O₅ through Pampafos® (where pastures were not treated with chemical fertilisers) returns improved forage grass production levels. To put this in perspective, there was an increase of over 40% vis-à-vis the control group with no fertiliser applied. Results of Pampafos® were also better when compared to conventional TSP fertiliser.

The test results on wheat showed that usage of Pampafos® resulted in exceeded productivity vis-à-vis the use of conventional Single Super Phosphate (SSP).

Copper Project – high-grade drill results

Aguia had acquired the copper project claims from Referencial Geologia through an option agreement in 2019. At this project -- also located in the Southernmost State of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) -- two diamond drill holes were drilled by AGR in 2020. Through this, north and south high-grade copper zone was confirmed.

During the December 2022 quarter, Aguia completed an infill drilling program, targeting improved resource category of Cu Deposit to Measured & Indicated. AGR states that the program intersected high-grade Cu zones and established high-grade Cu zone within the existing Copper Mineral Resource area.

Image source: AGR PPT

Further, the company would now commence a Preliminary Feasibility Study (PFS) after having completed the drilling program that consisted of 25 holes (totalling >2,600 metres).

Separately, the company also mentioned that one new tenement was acquired for Rio Grande Copper Project during the reported period.

Govt grant for green copper processing technologies

Aguia has also briefly mentioned some subsequent events in the report. These include the award of a non-refundable government grant of ~AU$ 570,000 from FINEP (Study and

Project Funding Agency). The purpose of this is to fund AGR’s work on green copper processing technologies (bio leaching and ore sorting). The company is contributing approximately AU$200,000 to this project.

The report ends with the company’s March quarter plans that include review of engineering requirements and capital expenditure budgeting at the phosphate project, proceeding with Preliminary Feasibility Study (PFS) at the Copper Project, and taking further green copper processing activities using the government grant.