The approval was authorised by the head of the DNPM for Minas Gerais State and the head of DNPM for Brazil (an additional step as a result of KPfértil being a new product). The final step in the approval process occurred yesterday when the permit approval was published in the Brazil official gazette (Diário Oficial da União). Commenting on the update, Executive Chairman of Harvest, Brian McMaster stated: "The award of the trial mining permit has enabled us to achieve our stated goal of first production at Maximus this year. This has been an outstanding year for Harvest Minerals during which we have managed to progress from field mapping to first production.”
“This is an exceptional achievement and we would like to thank all the relevant Brazilian agencies for their support and the hard work of all our staff in making this happen. We expect next year to be equally productive as we continue the agronomic test-work and develop the market for KP Ferl, a product, which is continuing to exceed our expectations. We will also continue to look to develop other projects which fit our criteria of being able to generate near term cash flows and, with Maximus now in production, our exploration team will be able to look to evaluate these opportunities and projects. In the mean time, we should receive the remaining drill results from the second drilling programme at Maximus before the end of the year, which should enable us to increase the size of the current resource to support an increased mine life and production rate."
