Aguia set for second cashflow stream by mid-year | Australian Markets

Aguia Resources is shifting gears and gunning for a second main income stream – this time from its phosphate project in Brazil’s booming southern agricultural heartland.

Hot on the heels of its maiden gold pour on the Santa Barbara mine in Colombia simply six weeks in the past, the company is planning to turn out to be Brazil’s latest phosphate producer, with its Três Estradas project anticipated to lock in first natural fertiliser gross sales in for the primary quarter of the 2026 financial yr.

In an effort to fast-track its phosphate manufacturing, Aguia has inked a deal to lease a absolutely operational 100,000 tonne every year (tpa) fertiliser plant owned by native fertiliser group Dagoberto Barcelos 110 kilometres from the mine website.

Under the phrases of the 10-year settlement – together with a built-in 10-year option extension – Aquia is shelling out R$5 million (A$1.38M) in upfront funds, break up into six month-to-month instalments to easy the company’s cashflows forward of commissioning in July.

Aguia has additionally agreed to pay a month-to-month rent of AU$43,000 from July which equates to only AU$5.13 per tonne on the present most capability.

The company’s choice to lease the plant will see it sidestep a potential $26 million price tag for a 300,000tpa standalone facility – a determine highlighted in a 2023 bankable feasibility research. That research painted a compelling image, forecasting annual EBITDA of $22 million over an 18-year mine life and a speedy payback period of simply 2.9 years.

To keep working prices low, Aguia has additionally cut a deal with native contractor, Contrasapper, to outsource mining and haulage underneath a per-tonne supply settlement.

Contrasapper’s companies may also embody every little thing from early works and vegetation clearance to haulage and highway upkeep.

Aguia Resources govt chairman Warwick GrigorThe processing facility has been present process a quantity of modification and upkeep actions in preparation to the handover of the location. The affiliation with Dagoberto Barcelos can be instrumental to a easy path to manufacturing, enabling vital value and time financial savings on earlier estimates.

Aguia’s initially focused 100,000 tonne every year phosphate manufacturing fee is prone to solely scratch the floor of Brazil’s fertiliser-hungry agriculture sector. Within a 200-kilometre radius of the plant, the company says it might probably solely meet 10 per cent of native phosphate demand. Even throughout the broader Rio Grande do Sul area, Aguia’s anticipated contribution will fill much less than 2 per cent of the market, leaving the door extensive open for enlargement.

Once the wheels are turning Aguia instantly plans to improve the plant. The company says surplus money from early operations might bankroll a second dryer on the plant to triple output to 300,000 tonnes every year by 2027.

Sales of Aguia’s “PAMPAFOS” product – a high-grade 12 per cent reactive phosphate – are slated to begin pending ultimate Ministry of Agriculture approvals. A second lower-grade 6.27 per cent phosphate product with added sulphur known as “LAVRATTO” is deliberate for rollout in 2026 following agronomic testing.

Aguia is tipping its premium PAMPAFOS product to retail between A$200 and A$230 a tonne, offering a aggressive, homegrown different to imported chemical phosphate, which it says is at the moment touchdown in Brazil at a hefty US$680 (A$1046) per tonne together with freight prices.

The company believes its PAMPAFOS product can be a hit with Brazilian farmers, not simply for its price edge, however for its confirmed punch within the paddock. The natural fertiliser has been put by its paces on crops worldwide over the previous 4 years and is shaping up as a more efficient different to conventional chemical blends.

Although the Três Estradas deposit will function the early feeder for Aguia’s plant, the medium-term plan is to change to 2 nearer phosphate deposits, Mato Grande and Passo Feio, that are each close to the plant and will save valuable {dollars} on haulage prices.

Recent augur drilling on the northern finish of Paso Feio, 20km from the processing facility, has already proven early promise after revealing a distinct carbonatite goal, regardless of the shortage of outcropping and can be shortly adopted up with ground magnetic surveys.

An identical phosphate-bearing carbonatite at Mato Grande – solely two kilometres from the plant – has additionally been recognized and can be examined with the rotary reality teller as soon as exploration permits have been issued.

Notably, Aguia has already locked in a seasoned distribution companion with an established gross sales pressure that’s already on the ground and has more than 40 years of market expertise throughout Brazil, Uruguay and the broader South American agricultural sector.

Aguia says the native presence and credibility of its distribution ally will play a essential position in profitable the hearts and minds and building neighborhood assist to fast-track acceptance of its PAMPAFOS fertiliser.

With mining contracts signed, plant modifications underway and advertising set to launch within weeks, Aguia seems close to zeroing in on first fertiliser revenues to enrich its Colombian gold play which itself is shaping up as a potential severe backside line contributor.

With two potential partitions of money on the close to horizon, the $61m market-capped Aguia is now very close to realising its strategic plan – and in document time too.

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