13th Nov 2014 10:52
LONDON (Alliance News) - Sirius Minerals PLC shares were up Thursday morning after it said it had got encouraging results from crop studies on barley that showed the effectiveness of the polyhalite product it hopes to produce from the York Potash project.
The company is primarily focused on developing a potash mine near York, and is trying to get planning permission for the site. In the meantime, it is conducting a global crop trial using the product it hopes to produce - the POLY 4 powder and granulated product - to prove it is an effective yield enhancer for cereal and vegetable crops.
It has already reported encouraging results from the trial on major crops such as corn, cotton, oilseed rape and wheat, as well as high-value vegetable crops like tomatoes, cabbage, celery and chilli.
On Thursday it said a field study conducted on barley at the University of Warwick crop centre in the UK had demonstrated the particular value of POLY4's potassium and sulphur content as well as the added benefits of low chloride levels and the other nutrients contained within POLY4.
It said POLY 4 had increased yields compared with muriate of potash and sulphate of potash by 4.10 tonnes a hectare and 0.6 tonnes a hectare, respectively. It also increased winter season survival rates compared with both the traditional products and maximised macro and micro nutrient uptake, Sirius said.
"These encouraging results demonstrate POLY4's capacity to maximise yield and minimise fertilizer input costs at the same time. Given the importance of barley to UK agriculture these results will not only be of interest here in the UK but also globally," said Sirius Chief Executive Chris Fraser.
Sirius Minerals shares were up 2.8% at 12.34 pence Thursday morning.
By Steve McGrath; [email protected]; @stevemcgrath1
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