Israel Chemicals to invest £38m in UK unit

Cleveland Potash will expand production at its polyhalite mine in northeast England.

Israel Chemicals Ltd. (TASE: ICL) will implement a £38 million investment program in its UK subsidiary Cleveland Potash Ltd. to expand its Boulby Mine in northeast England. The British government has approved a £4.9 million grant for the expansion project.

Cleveland Potash will expand polyhalite production from 130,000 tons a year to 600,000 tons. It is the only company that mines polyhalite, which Israel Chemicals has been selling since 2010 as a new fertilizer under the name Polysulphate.

Geological studies conducted by Israel Chemicals indicate more than a billion tons of polyhalite at the Boulby Mine, which has been operating since 1969.

Polyhalite is a unique mineral. It is a complex salt comprising sulfur, potassium, magnesium and valcium which are all essential nutrients for crop production. Polysulphate has the additional benefit of being low in chlorides and can be used as a specialty fertilizer suitable for fertilizing crops and agricultural land that are sensitive to chlorine. As a natural product, Polysulphate is certified and approved for use in organic farming systems.

Polysulphate also has a high sulfur content (48% SO3), which means that this mineral provides a solution for sulfur-deficient land, a growing concern for farmers in the West as sulfur deposition from the atmosphere decreases. Polysulphate can be applied directly to land in its natural form or be used as raw material input for fertilizer production.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 23, 2014

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2014

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