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EDEN INNOVATIONS LTD — Capital/Financing Update 2016
Oct 17, 2016
64820_rns_2016-10-17_764d2564-12e3-42c9-9b29-3597fb7b8ca9.pdf
Capital/Financing Update
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ACN 109 200 900
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE ANNOUNCEMENT
18 October 2016
EDENCRETE[TM] - US UPDATE
HIGHLIGHTS
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Augusta Plant Site - construction of access road commences.
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Sales Staff – has increased to 8 full-time, highly experienced EdenCrete[TM] concrete admixture sales staff.
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US commercial trials - commercial trials have commenced in a number of states and the total number of trials scheduled to occur across the US before the end of 2016 is increasing and is already over 15.
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I-20 Interstate Highway Field Trial with Georgia Department of Transportation (“GDOT”) - the crack in the control slab has significantly extended, whilst the EdenCrete[TM] slab remains fully intact and with no visible cracking or visible signs of wear after 14 months of wear.
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Expansion of Eden’s Denver-based EdenCrete[TM ] production capability continues.
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Purchase of Denver premises has been completed.
Level 15, 197 St Georges Terrace, Perth, Western Australia 6000 Telephone: (08) 9282 5889 Facsimile: (08) 9282 5866 Email: [email protected]
DETAILS
Eden Energy Limited (“Eden”) (ASX: EDE) is pleased to announce that the development of its US EdenCrete[TM] concrete admixture project is continuing well, with the sales and marketing starting to gain momentum.
Augusta Plant Site Access Road - construction commences
A formal opening ceremony (see Figure 1) was held in Augusta yesterday (Monday 17 October 2016), organised by the Augusta Economic Development Authority (“AEDA”), to commemorate the commencement of the building of the 3.2 kilometre two lane bitumen access road through its 1,800 acre (728 hectares) Augusta Industrial Park to provide access including to the proposed large scale EdenCrete[TM ] production facility.
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Figure 1. Commemoration of the start of construction of the access road.
Starbucks, which has a major coffee roasting facility there, is currently the only resident in the Augusta Industrial Park.
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Completion of this road, which will end at the 143 acres (57 hectares) site that is being granted to Eden for its future, large scale EdenCrete[TM ] plant, is scheduled for between May and August 2017, depending on the weather. This would enable work to start on the EdenCrete[TM ] production facility site as soon thereafter as Eden decides is justified, and which decision will be dependent upon the rate of growth of EdenCrete[TM ] sales before then. In anticipation, work on the engineering drawings has commenced.
EdenCrete[TM] Sales Team
Since the last update (see Eden’s ASX announcement ASX: EDE – 7 October 2016) the sales staff of full time, highly experienced EdenCrete[TM] concrete admixture sales people has grown to 8, of whom 5 have now commenced work, with the remainder due to commence over the next 4-6 weeks. Additionally 2-3 more are presently being considered and it is hoped that the complete the initial sales team will be in place by the end of December.
They will be based across the US in order to enable Eden to market EdenCrete[TM] across the whole of continental USA.
As previously advised (Eden’s ASX announcement ASX: EDE – 7 October 2016) the target includes all commercial and infrastructure concrete.
The initial objective is to arrange for as wide a range of potential customers as possible to trial EdenCrete[TM] , with the intention of hopefully being able to sell the entire 2-2.4 million gallons of EdenCrete[TM] that Eden will be able produce annually, from early 2017, from its expanded Colorado production facility.
The highly experienced senior vice president responsible for national and international product development previously announced (Eden’s ASX announcement ASX: EDE – 7 October 2016), with many years experience in high level government liaison, has now commenced promoting EdenCrete[TM] to various US state and federal government departments.
Commercial Trials of EdenCrete[TM]
US commercial trials of EdenCrete[TM] are continuing and a number have now taken place, with the results are awaited over the next 2-3 months.
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In aggregate over 15 commercial trials, with a number of significant US companies engaged in various sectors of the US concrete industry, are now scheduled to occur before the end of December 2016, covering a range of applications or performance characteristics including precast concrete, freeze/ thaw applications and permeability applications.
An as yet unascertained number of additional trials are also anticipated over the next 6 months, as the sales team grows and gains momentum.
I-20 Field Trial Update
An inspection on 16 October 2016 of the EdenCrete[TM] enriched slab on a section of the I-20 interstate highway in Augusta, Georgia, that was repaired with GDOT on 26 August 2015 shows the crack in the control slab which contained no EdenCrete[TM ] (see Eden’s ASX announcement ASX: EDE – 19 July 2016) has significantly extended, whilst the EdenCrete[TM] slab remains fully intact and with no visible cracking or significant wear.
The clearly visible crack now extends across the whole control slab ( see Figure 2 below ). The EdenCrete trial slab is shown in Figure 3 below.
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Figure 2. Control slab on I-20 Field trial showing clearly visible crack extending across entire slab after 14 months of highway use.
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Figure 3. EdenCrete[TM] trial slab on I-20 Field trial showing no cracking or visible wear after 14 months of highway use.
As previously advised, this section of the I-20 highway is subject to significant water flow beneath the road surface that causes undermining of the subsurface, which in turn reduces support for the road surface and leads to cracking.
The greater flexural strength, compressive strength and abrasion resistance of the EdenCrete[TM] enriched concrete are considered likely to be the major factors in the difference in the levels of performance of the two trial slabs.
This adds further weight to the decision already made by GDOT (see Eden’s ASX announcement ASX: EDE – 7 October 2016) to issue, possibly now within the next one - two months, requests for tender for two highway repair projects that will enable it to require that EdenCrete[TM] be added to the concrete.
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Expansion of Eden’s Denver-based EdenCrete[TM ] Production Capability
The expansion of the production capability of Eden’s Colorado based EdenCrete[TM] production facility from its present level of approximately 108,000 gallons per annum of EdenCrete[TM ] to a target of between approximately 2 million - 2.4 million gallons (7.6 - 9.1 million litres) per annum or approximately 40,000 gallons (151,000 litres) of finished product per week, is well underway.
Due to delays in permitting which were beyond Eden’s control, the entire upscaling has fallen a few weeks behind schedule and is now expected to be completed and operational, in late February or early March 2017.
Purchase of Eden’s Current Denver Facility
Eden has now completed the purchase of its previously leased premises in Denver, Colorado, at a net price of approximately US$1.2 million, payable progressively over a 5 year period, with the outstanding balance of the purchase price carrying 2% interest p.a. This acquisition fully secures Eden’s long-term control over this critical part of Eden’s operation, which is intended to remain Eden’s long - term technology base.
Conclusion
Eden is continuing to make significant progress in its US EdenCrete[TM] concrete admixture project, and remains on target to achieve its longer-term goals of broad penetration by EdenCrete[TM] into the huge US concrete and infrastructure markets.
BACKGROUND
EdenCrete[TM] is Eden’s 100% owned, proprietary carbon-strengthened concrete additive, one of the primary target markets for which is improving the performance of concrete used in the construction and maintenance of concrete roads, bridges and other infrastructure. Additionally, it has potential for use in a range of other concrete applications including high-rise building construction, marine and coastal applications, water storage and pipelines, and pre-fabricated concrete structures and product.
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Gregory H. Solomon Executive Chairman
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