Investor Presentation May 2011

26
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Transcript of Investor Presentation May 2011

Page 2: Investor Presentation May 2011

2

Disclaimer

This presentation contains certain “forward looking statements”, which include but is not limited to, statements with

respect to the future financial or operating performance of Verde Potash Plc (the “Company”), its subsidiaries and

its projects, statements regarding use of proceeds, exploration prospects, identification of mineral reserves, costs

of and capital for exploration projects, exploration expenditures, timing of future exploration and permitting,

requirements for additional capital, government regulations of mining operations, environmental risks, reclamation

expenses, title disputes or claims, and limitations of insurance coverage. Forward looking statements can

generally be identified by the use of words such as “plans”, “expects”, or “does not expect” or “is expected”,

“anticipates” or “does not anticipate”, or “believes”, “intends”, “forecasts”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates” or

variations of such words or phrases or state that certain actions, event, or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might”,

or “will be taken”, “occur” or “be achieved”. Forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks,

uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company

to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by said

statements. There can be no assurances that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual

results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in said statements. Accordingly, readers

should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

Total resources include all categories unless otherwise stated. All currency are in Canadian $ unless otherwise

stated.

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Verde Potash

Brazilian fertilizer company• Founded and led by strong and successful Brazilian team

• Listed on the Toronto Venture Exchange (NPK : TSX-V)

Cerrado Verde Potash Project• 105.1Mt @ 10.3% K2O of Potash inferred resource

• ThermoPotash

• Low Capex: US$196.8m

• Strong Economics: US$445.5M

• Conventional Potash - KCl

• New technology under development

• University of Cambridge partnership

Investment Highlights• High grade potash at surface

• Close proximity to fertilizer distribution and farms

• Strong government support: tax advantages and potential

financingPotash rock at surface grading 11% K2O

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Capital Structure & Share Price

TSXv : NPK

Shares Issued 32,122,769

Options 2,862,136

Warrants 208,686

Diluted 35,193,591

52 week: Hi/Lo C$10.95/C$0.93

Market Cap (at $7.40) C$237 million

Average Volume (3 mo.) 126,526

Cash Position ~C$14 million

Debt 0

Share Price

Salman Partners

Wellington West

Ocean Equities

Octagon Capital

Kaiser Bottom Fish (John Kaiser)

Analyst Coverage

Salman Partners Jaret Anderson

Wellington West Robert Winslow

Ocean Equities Natasha Liddell

Octagon Capital Max Vichniakov

Bottom Fish John Kaiser

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

$0.00

$2.00

$4.00

$6.00

$8.00

$10.00

$12.00

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Brazil’s Agribusiness: Feeding the World

•Brazil has almost 20% of world‟s

undeveloped potential arable land

•Brazil has world‟s largest renewable fresh

water reserve

•The great agricultural frontier is Brazil‟s

Cerrado, or Savannah away from the

Amazon forest

•Climate allows for multiple crops during

the year

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Amazon

Cerrado

Brazil

South

America0

100

200

300

400

500

600

Brazil US Russia China India

Millio

ns o

f H

ecta

res

Undeveloped Potential Arable Land

Available

Planted

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization, UN

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Brazil’s Fertilizer Supply & Consumption

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Dependency on Imported Potash

• Potash ranks in the top ten of

Brazilian imports by dollar value

(2008 #6, 2009 #10)

• Brazilian government targets 2020

to be fertilizer-independent

• Brazil is to be ranked #1 globally for

potash imports in 2020 at 7.2

million tonnes of K2O1

Note1Source: FERTECON report (FERTECON, 2009, /15/)

Source: FAO,UN

Evolution of Agribusiness

• Brazil is the world‟s fastest

growing potash consumer

• Brazil‟s poor soils and crop mix

make potash a very important

nutrient

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Management and Directors

Management

Cristiano Veloso Founder, President, CEO• 12 years experience; Brazilian entrepreneur ex Banco do

Brasil S/A, CEMIG; LL.B, LL.M International Business Law

Maurício Sampaio VP Operations• 30 years experience; ex President of Brazilian Agribusiness

Association, Operations and Marketing Director for Bunge

Fertilizantes and Operations Director for Fertiza

Pedro Ladeira VP Engineering• 17 years experience; ex Operations Director at Cementos

Minetti; Process and Production Manager for Holcim Brazil

Ysao Munemassa Exploration Manager• 41 years experience; ex BP Minerals, VALE, Union

Carbide, INCO, Teck Cominco, Newmont Gold

Dr Derek Fray Metallurgical Consultant• 45 years experience; University of Cambridge Professor &

Director of Research

Jed Richardson VP Corporate Development• 10 years experience; ex Mining Analyst with

Sprott/Cormark and RBC Capital Markets, Mining engineer

with Alcan Aluminium

Independent Directors

Peter Gundy Chairman

• Former Chairman of Neo Materials Technologies Inc.; VP of

Brascan Inc; Executive VP, Finance of Potash Corporation of

Saskatchewan Limited and Chairman of Renaissance

Securities Inc. Currently co-proprietor of Veritprop Ltd. In

Toronto

Dr Getulio Lamartine de Paula Fonseca

• Former General Director National Department of Power &

Water Supply; Executive-Secretary Industry & Commerce

Ministry; Served as a member of the advisory boards of

Vallourec & Mannesmann, CPRM & Ferbasa

Dr Henrique Brandão Cavalcanti

• Former Brazil‟s Minister of the Environment (1994), Deputy

Minister of Mines Energy (1967-69), Deputy Minister of

Interior (1969-74). Has held senior posts at SIDERBRAS

Brazilian Steel Corporation, International Environmental

Bureau in Geneva and CAEMI. Has Represented Brazil at

the United Nations and World Health Organization

Dr Renato Gomes

• Director of the ABCI Institute (Brazilian International Trade

Scholars) Lawyer and member of Brazilian and Portuguese

Bar Associations

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Location, Location, Location

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~ 60% of Brazil’s

fertilizer

consumption

takes place in

Minas Gerais state

where Verde’s

projects are

located and

adjacent states

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Transportation Advantage

From Saskatchewan to Brazil

Verde Potash

Saskatchewan Port of Vancouver Port of Santos NPK Blenders$43.29 1

/tonne

$30-35

/tonne

$80-115

/tonne

Total: $153-193/tonne

Cerrado Verde NPK Blenders

Minas Gerais $22.27

Mato Grosso $59.72

Goias $29.66

Parana $67.33

Mato Grosso do Sul $57.27

Bahia $47.63

Sao Paulo $40.85

Transportation Cost 2

Cerrado Verde to NPK Mixers (per tonne)

TSXv : NPK1 Government of Canada, Ministry of Transportation

2 Agroconsult

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Potash at Surface

Growing Resource

• Initial NI 43-101 Inferred Resource of 105.1Mt @

10.3% (7.5% cut-off)

• Potassium rich rock (Muscovite and Microcline)

distributed over an area approximately: 100km x

10km x 20m to 80m thick

• 26,000m drilling program underway (see press

release dated May 9, 2011)

Low-Cost Mining

• High Grade

• Open Pit

• Drilling Results include up to 64m @ 10.3% K2O

Potash rock at surface being drilled

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Cerrado Verde Project – Business Plan

ThermoPotash

• Developed in the 70‟s

• Potash rich rock mixed with limestone

and heated produces ThermoPotash

• Slow-release, non-chloride, multi-

nutrient fertilizer

• Ideal fertilizer for Brazil‟s nutrient poor,

well drained, acidic soils

Conventional Potash - KCl

• New technology under development

• Patent application filed in Dec/10 for the

production of KCl

• Developed by Dr. Derek Fray, Professor

and Director of Research (University of

Cambridge, UK)

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ThermoPotash Scoping Study

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NI 43-101 Preliminary Economic Assessment Completed• PEA completed by SRK Consulting

(U.S.), Inc. studied open pit mining

and pyrometallurgy process to

create the ThermoPotash fertilizer

Potential Cost Savings• Use of natural gas or eucalyptus

charcoal instead of pet coke as

heating fuel source

• Utilization of Amazon‟s potential

limestone source

• Reduction of ICMS1 value-added

taxes

• Flow sheet Optimization

NOTE1 Tax on the Circulation of Goods, Interstate and intercity Transportation and Communication Services2 These figures can be found on page IV of the Preliminary Economic Assessment available on SEDAR published on December 13, 2010

Production Rate

(Brazil market share of

Potash “K2O”)

1.1Mtpy2

(2%)

2.2Mtpy2

(4%)

NPV (10%) US$445.5m US$844.1m

NPV (12%) US$331.6m US$642.0m

IRR 32.7% 40.0%

Operational Cost US$41.80/t US$36.36/t

CapEx

Contingency

Pre-construction

Total CapEx

US$155.3m

US$23.3m

US$18.2m

US$196.8m

US$218.4m

US$32.8m

US$18.2m

US$269.4m

Payback 2.38 years 1.87 years

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Benefits to farmers

• Provides potash in a slow release form

• Provides substantial doses of other

macronutrients

• Reduces limestone use for pH correction

• No change to final fertilizer application

quantities or techniques

ThermoPotash : Benefits

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Benefits to fertilizer blenders

• Overseas imports price is set 2 months

before it arrives at facility, plus possible

port delays

• 60% of fertilizer consumption occurs in 4

month window

• Transport distance creates unusable

powder from granules

• Potential to replace 581,236 tonnes of

imported KCl in the region

Port of Santos

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ThermoPotash Agronomic Results

Nutrient Availability Tests

(See August 11, 2010 release)

• Tests showed that ThermoPotash

(TK) provided statistically equivalent

nutrients to plants as KCl

Limestone Replacement Tests

(See October 14, 2010 release)

• Every tonne of ThermoPotash used

reduces limestone required by 490

kg

Slow and Controlled Release

(See October 15, 2010 release)

• Resin tests confirmed slow

release properties of

ThermoPotash (best suited for

Brazilian soils)

Potassium Leaching Tests(See December 16, 2010 release)

• TK suffers minimal nutrient loss as a

result of leaching, whereas KCl loses

26% under the same conditions

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Carrot‟s planted at Sekita using TK & KCl: statistically inconclusive results

Page 15: Investor Presentation May 2011

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Conventional Potash - KCl

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New Technology has potential to revolutionize Potash industry

• Method invented for reacting Verde‟s

potassium rich rock with a simple mixture of

salts to form water-soluble potash

• Invented by Dr. Derek Fray, Professor and

Director of Research at the University of

Cambridge, UK, sponsored by Verde

• Reactions occur at moderate temperatures

of 800-1000°C

• The route allows for the production of SOP

and KCl

• Verde has commissioned a leading

commercial lab to scale up the current

processing concept to industrial levels

• If the process proves economic it could

revolutionize the Potash market

Potassium rich rock

Dr Derek Fray, University of Cambridge, UK

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Apatita Phosphate Project

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• 30km of mineralized phosphate with

widths between 1km and 5km (see

November 8, 2010 release)

• Average grade of 7.13% P2O5 from 435

surface grab samples

• 12 hole, 1,022m drilling program

provided encouraging results at two

prospect regions:

• Alto da Serra zone - high grade potential

of 2m at 9.49% P2O5

• Nau de Guerra zone - high grade

potential of 1m at 8.43% P2O5 and 3m at

6.35% P2O5

• First concentration test result: 29.8%

P2O5 with significant potential for

improvement

Page 17: Investor Presentation May 2011

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Brazilian Government Commitment

Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) Signed with State of Minas Gerais(see April 7, 2011 release)

• Potential financing for working capital and fixed

investment support; funds administered by the

Development Bank of Minas Gerais (BDMG)

• Secretary of Finance‟s approval of special tax

treatment defined as:

• Suspension of “ICMS” tax payable on:

a) imports of foreign goods;

b) imports of foreign raw materials;

c) purchases of domestic raw materials

• Eeffective tax load of 4% payable on sales of

fertilizer products

• Tax benefit will reduce:

• capital and operational expenditures for the

proposed TK production

• sales tax on TK

Minas Gerais State Governor, Antonio Augusto, and

Cristiano Veloso, Verde Potash‟s CEO

Page 18: Investor Presentation May 2011

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Milestones2011 2012 2013 2014

Q2 Q3 Q4

Cerra

do

Verd

e P

ota

sh

Updated Resource

Calculation

TK Pre-Feasibility

TK Registration

TK Feasibility Study

TK Construction

TK Commissioning

Cambridge Technology

Oth

er

Apatita Phosphate Resource

Calculation

Limestone Resource

Calculation

Key Milestones

Page 19: Investor Presentation May 2011

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Appendix

Page 20: Investor Presentation May 2011

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Time for Something Different

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Verde‟s K Rock

0 m

Open Pit Mining

10-13% K2O

2 yrs

$200 million

Energy Costs

Low mining costs

ThermoPotash

Carnallite

500 - 1000m

Solution Mining

10-14% K2O

5-7 years

$1-2 billion

Fluid and Boreholes

Solution Separation

KCl

Sylvinite

1000 - 1500m

Conventional Underground

20-25% K2O

7-10 years

$2-3 billion

Conventional Mining

Flotation Separation

KCl

Depth

Grade

Time

Cap-Ex

Op Cost

Product

Page 21: Investor Presentation May 2011

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Process and Operating Costs

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ThermoPotash Production Process

1. Mining

• Potassium rich rock comes from open pit and

the limestone comes from suppliers in the

surrounding area or Verde‟s quarry

2. Grinding

• Potassium rock and limestone are ground by

upright rod mill

3. Mixing

• The ground rock and limestone are mixed

and 4% moisture is added

4. Pelletization and Drying

• Material is rolled into pellets by disc

pelletizers, and dried by exhaust gas from the

rotary kiln

5. Rotary Kiln and Quenching

• After drying, pellets go into the rotary kiln to

be heated to 1250oC and rapidly cooled

6. Packaging of ready ThermoPotash product

$18.45

•Energy

•petroleum coke, electricity

$2.35

•Raw Materials

•limestone

$8.91•Labour

$1.80•Maintenance

$5.50•Equipment Operation

$1.76•Marketing

$3.04

•Non-Operating Expenses

•administration

Estimated Operating Cost

(1.1mtpy) 1

US$41.80/tonne

1 These figures can be found on pages 17-15 & 17-16 of the Preliminary Economic Assessment

available on SEDAR published on December 13, 2010

Page 22: Investor Presentation May 2011

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Minas

Gerais

896,051t/y

$182.31

$160.04

Sao Paulo

722,513t/y

$131.77

$90.92

Bahia

325,18ty

$141.61

$93.98

Parana

778,17t/y

$131.01

$63.68

Goias

495,68t/y

$142.64

$112.98

Mato

Grosso

895,043t/y

$189.85

$130.13

Mato Grosso

do Sul

246,621t/y

$179.47

$122.20

Cerrado Verde

Pricing Estimates

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Highlighted

MarketAnnual Market

Potential: 4,359,267

tonnes

Potential Sale Price:

US$179.47/t3

Delivery-adjusted

Price: US$122.20/t3

NOTE

1 Price currently paid by blenders for fertilizers delivered at Uberaba fertilizer complex, Minas Gerais state.

2 Expected sale price for Minas Gerais State

3 Weighted-average of the highlighted market

4 Agroconsult (see press release dated October 26, 2010)

Marketing Study

• Agroconsult conducted an independent

market study to understand potential sale

price and market size of ThermoPotash

• Prices derived exclusively on how blenders

can optimize NPK formulas using

ThermoPotash and keep raw material costs

equal

Optimized Formulation vs. Standard Formulation in 4-20-20 Fertilizer4

Standard - w/o TK Optimized Formulation - w/ TK

Weight

(kg)

Price

(US$)

N P K Weight

(kg)

Price

(US$)

N P K

Am. Sulphate

(US$258.52/t)

74.2 19.18 1.48% 0.00% 0.00% 5.6 1.45 0.11% 0.00% 0.00%

SSP

(US$253.07/t)

352.8 89.28 0.00% 7.06% 0.00% 0 0.00 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%

MAP

(US$514.06/t)

239.7 123.22 2.52% 12.94% 0.00% 370.4 190.41 3.89% 20.00% 0.00%

KCl

(US$515.55/t)

333.3 171.83 0.00% 0.00% 20.00% 288.6 148.79 0.00% 0.00% 17.32%

ThermoPotash

($182.31/t)

0 0 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 335.5 61.16 0.00% 0.00% 2.68%

Total Weight 1000 403.53 4.00% 20.00% 20.00% 1000 401.81 4.00% 20.00% 20.00%

Page 23: Investor Presentation May 2011

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Why It Hasn’t Been Done Before?

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Potash price was too low

• When Verdete was first tested KClwas only $70/t

• In 2007 KCl price was still $200/treaching $1100/t during 2008

• Now $400/t FOB, $600/t in Brazil

Existing Production Gov’t Built

• Large conventional mines areprivatized government assets

• No new large mines since 1980‟s

• Now it would cost billions with longlead times to production

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010E

Po

tash

Sh

ipm

en

ts (

MM

t)

Po

tash

Pri

ce (

$/t

)

Shipments Brazil

China

Page 24: Investor Presentation May 2011

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ThermoPotash Partnerships

ArcelorMittal to Fund Agronomic Trials (See Sept. 22, 2009 release)

• Agreement represents a first step in developing corporate demand for ThermoPotash. ArcelorMittalhas 170,000ha of cultivated eucalyptus forests for charcoal production.

Agrifirma to Undertake Agronomic Trials (See Nov. 24 & Dec. 9, 2009 release)

• Agreement secures real world field trials of ThermoPotash for use in corn and soy plantation, also aspart of process for conversion of Cerrado scrubland for commercial cultivation. Agrifirma is a Jersey-based land fund with 42,000ha of farmland in Brazil

Sekita to Fund Agronomic Trials (See March 22, 2010 release)

• Agreement establishes a relationship with one of the largest Brazilian vegetable producers.ThermoPotash to be tested in real world conditions for use with various vegetables. Its farms arelocated less than 10km from the Cerrado Verde Project

Included in Sugarcane Fertilizer Taskforce (See August 4, 2009 release)

• ROCKAPL („Rock‟ Arranjo Produtivo Local) is a collaborative effort between government and privateenterprise focused on developing fertilizer alternatives for sugarcane destined for ethanol production

University of Uberlandia Undertakes Agronomic Trials (See December 2009 release)

• Agreement with Dr. Gaspar Korndörfer, Professor of Agriculture at the Universidade Fedederal deUberlandia, secures initial agronomic studies used for the planning of Amazon‟s metallurgical testwork and laboratory scale tests on the application of ThermoPotash

University of Lavras Agreement (See August 31, 2009 release)

• Agreement with the University of Lavras to complete a full slate of tests to register the ThermoPotashproduct as a fertilizer in Brazil

Universidade Fedederal de Uberlandia

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Page 25: Investor Presentation May 2011

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Phosphate in Brazil

Company Project Status Type

Resource 1

(Mt)

Reserve 2

(Mt)

Avg

Grade

P2O5 (%)

P2O5

Concentr.3

Production

Capacity4

(ktpy)

Fosfertil/Vale Tapira Operating Carbonatite 1,309.2 7.69 35.5 2,030

Copebras/Anglo Ouvidor Operating Carbonatite 256.7 7.63 38.0 1,300

Vale Araxa Operating Carbonatite 88.7 11.12 35/33 910

Fosfertil/Vale Catalao Operating Carbonatite 223.6 8.96 36/34 1,209

Vale Cajati Operating Carbonatite 85.1 5.45 36.0 528

Fosfertil/Vale Patos Operating Metasediments 304.6 12.36 24.0 150

Fosfertil/Vale Salitre Implementati

on

Carbonatite 852.0 10.74 - 1,600 forecast

Vale Anitapolis Implementati

on

Carbonatite 54.0 9.01 - 300 forecast

MBAC5 Itafos Operating Metasediments 44.0 5.39 28/30 50

Notes1 Resource and Grades: Salitre-DNPM 1975/Anitapolis:, DOU 1980 (DOU = Official Diary of Brazil)2 Reserve and Grades: DNPM 2006 Mineral Annuary3 Concentration/Production: ANDA Annuary 20084 Major Phosphate Rock Producer by Bete,Inc. for Cargill Fertilizer, inc 1998. Values updated to 2010 including exchange variation and inflation5 BMO – MBAC report figures April 2010 and Website info September 2010 TSXv : NPK

Page 26: Investor Presentation May 2011

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