Arianne Provides Comprehensive 2017 Year in Review DAN: TSX-V (Canada) JE9N: FSE (Germany) DRRSF: OTC (USA)
Arianne Provides Comprehensive 2017 Year in Review
DAN: TSX-V (Canada)
JE9N: FSE (Germany)
DRRSF: OTC (USA)
SAGUENAY, QC, Dec. 21, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - Arianne Phosphate (the "Company" or "Arianne")
(TSXV: DAN) (OTC: DRRSF) (FRANKFURT: JE9N) , a development-stage phosphate mining company,
advancing the Lac à Paul phosphate rock project in Quebec's Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region, is
pleased to provide a corporate update for the year-end. "This year has been one of sure and steady
progress," said Brian Ostroff, CEO of Arianne Phosphate. "As nice as it would be, you don't just flip a
switch and it's done. This is a big project that should generate large returns for our investors,
stakeholders and the community as a whole. Advancin g our Lac à Paul project requires many pieces to
come together and I believe that the year 2017 has been a successful one in moving us towards our
goal."
Selection of Key Suppliers
Arianne, through the first few months of 2017, finalized agreements with several large suppliers for
various aspects of its project. Among the organizations selected were Constructions Proco for structural
and architectural engineering, ABB for integrated electrification and FLSmidth for the production
processing line. These agreements were a culmination of the Company's efforts through the back half of
2017. The key takeaway is that Arianne has been able to interest and partner with some of the world's
most respected organizations and this will be of tremendous benefit as the project moves forward.
Equally, the fact that some of these agreements cam e with a commitment on the suppliers' part to assist
Arianne in financing these contracts has been a big help as we have moved the project into the financi ng
stage.
Continued Project Optimization
Throughout 2017, Arianne has continued to look at w ays to optimize its Lac à Paul project and, as a
result, has been able to reach agreements with various organizations that should help improve the cost
effectiveness of its project. Early in the year, the Company announced an MOU with Rio Tinto to explor e
potential synergies around maritime transport focus ing on the use of Rio Tinto ships to deliver Arianne's
phosphate concentrate. The Company also entered int o an agreement with Groupe Alfred Boivin
regarding the trucking of Arianne's phosphate concentrate to maritime loading facilities on the Saguenay
River. Additionally, Arianne announced a favorable power agreement with Hydro-Quebec that has
allowed for an increased allotment of power for its phosphate concentrate production facilities. This
agreement, along with the economic benefits, also will make Arianne the lowest greenhouse gas emitter
of all apatite [phosphate] concentrate producers.
Review of Potential Strategic Associations
Arianne continuously reviews opportunities to partner with like-minded organizations that see the
opportunity in collaborating on various business ventures that can provide for both economic and
environmental benefit. To this end, Arianne has announced that it is reviewing the possibility of partnering
to set up downstream operations to transform its phosphate rock into phosphoric acid. The potential
project continues to be explored and headway is bei ng made in understanding the economic benefits
involved. As well, during the year, Arianne joined with several current and pending phosphate producers
to form Safer Phosphates™. The organization was fo rmed to share information and address concerns
about contaminants, such as heavy metals like cadmi um, in many of today's phosphate concentrates.
Arianne's igneous Lac à Paul deposit does not contain many of the deleterious elements of concern
today. Further, the EU Parliament, late in the year, agreed to institute legislation limiting the amount of
cadmium in the phosphate that can enter the Europea n Union. The Company believes that this will cause
European buyers to seek out alternatives such as Arianne's high-purity phosphate concentrate.
Board and Management Activities
It was with great sadness that 2017 marked the loss of Arianne's Chairman Jean Lamarre after a brief
and courageous fight with illness; his vision and wisdom will be missed. Mr. Lamarre has been succeede d
by Mr. Dominique Bouchard who moves from Executive Vice-Chairman to Executive Chairman. Mr.
Bouchard is a native of the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean area where he has held numerous senior positions
throughout his career. The Company believes that Mr. Bouchard's talents and network are well-placed to
assist in progressing the Arianne project to development. As well, the Company also expanded the role
of Mr. Siva Pillay who is the Chair of the Company's audit/finance committee. Mr. Pillay, who is the
Managing Director of Ocean Partners, a global off-t aking and commodity trading company, brings with
him extensive knowledge of project finance and off- take agreements will work alongside Arianne's CEO
and CFO as the project moves through the project financing.
Project Financing
In very late October, Arianne announced that it had completed its comprehensive Information
Memorandum (IM). This document followed many months of work and extensive due diligence by
independent engineers. Every aspect of the project from extraction, processing, infrastructure and
environmental were reviewed and results modeled int o Arianne's CapEx and OpEx and subsequently into
a financial model for prospective financial partners. The IM has been provided to parties with execut ed
Non-Disclosure Agreements, that have indicated a strong interest in reviewing the materials and being
included in the finance syndicate. Although just a short period since these materials have been fully
available, the Company has already started to receive expressions of interest and correspondence to th is
effect and, Arianne continues to be in regular dialogue with these parties to discuss terms and conditions
that would be part of any comprehensive financing package.
Macro Outlook for Phosphate
The overall macro for phosphate in 2017 remained su bdued for most of the year after several years of
poor pricing. The last couple of months however, has seen an uptick in several of the fertilizer
components including DAP (finished phosphate fertil izer) and the equities of several large fertilizer
companies. Arianne continues to see a strong future for its project as annual demand continues to grow
for phosphate. Many industry observers believe that new supply will be required in the next few years if
we are going to keep up with demand; currently supp ly will not be sufficient to meet this demand. Work
done as part of the due diligence process shows the Company's Lac à Paul project to be extremely cost
competitive and ultimately Arianne believes this to be the best defence in an uncertain pricing
environment; at today's multi-year lows for phosphate rock, Arianne can still be very profitable by
operating at the low end of the cost curve.
Additionally, the phosphate industry continues to see environmental concerns appear. New legislation i n
the European Union has highlighted issues associated with cadmium as well as other impurities in the
phosphate imported into Europe. This adds to other environmental issues in North America seen over the
last couple of years involving producers of phosphate. Arianne believes that as these issues continue to
gain awareness, it will provide a growing market for its high-purity/low-contaminant phosphate
concentrate and the Company has already seen an upt ick in interest as a result.
Lastly, as the world's phosphate demand continues to be met with supply out of areas where geopolitica l
uncertainty exists, the need for supply coming from more stable jurisdictions will be of great interest as
buyers look to diversify their sources. As a pending large producer with operations in the politically stable
and mining friendly jurisdiction of Quebec, Canada, Arianne believes it is well-placed to meet this
demand.
Closing Comments
"It has taken a long time to get to where we are, but today, our shareholders are the owners of arguab ly
one of the best phosphate assets in the world," said Brian Ostroff, CEO of Arianne Phosphate. "All of our
work, and that of independent parties that have com e in to review our project, have demonstrated the
robustness of the Lac à Paul project and, the job has now shifted to bringing the project into development
and monetizing all of that hard work. We take seriously the important place that Arianne can play in the
future of the region and look to crystalize on this for our investors, First Nations, stakeholders and the
community at large. The last couple of months have been very rewarding in terms of the feedback we are
getting and I want to thank my team at Arianne for their hard work and commitment to advancing the
project. I want to wish all a very happy and health y holiday season and look forward to a strong 2018."
About Arianne Phosphate
Arianne Phosphate ("Arianne Phosphate Inc.") ( www.arianne-inc.com ) is developing the Lac à Paul
phosphate deposits located approximately 200 km nor th of the Saguenay/Lac St. Jean area of Quebec,
Canada. These deposits will produce a high quality igneous apatite concentrate grading 39% P 2O5 with
little or no contaminants. The Company has 100,530, 580 million shares outstanding.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Ser vices Provider (as that term is defined in the
policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this
release.
Follow Arianne on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ariannephosphate
Twitter: http://twitter.com/arianne_dan
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/ArianneResources
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/arianneresources
Resource Investing News: http://resourceinvestingnews.com/?s=Arianne
Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward Looking Inf ormation
This news release contains "forward-looking stateme nts" and "forward-looking information"
within the meaning of applicable securities regulat ions in Canada and the United States
(collectively, "forward-looking information"). Forward-looking information includes, but is not
limited to, anticipated quality and production of t he apatite concentrate at the Lac à Paul project.
Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as
"plans", "expects, "is expected", "budget", "schedu led", "estimates", forecasts", "intends",
"anticipates", or "believes", or the negatives thereof or variations of such words and phrases or
statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", or "will" be
taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking inform ation is subject to known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or
achievements of the Company to be materially differ ent from those expressed or implied by such
forward-looking information, including but not limited to: volatile stock price; risks related to
changes in commodity prices; sources and cost of po wer facilities; the estimation of initial and
sustaining capital requirements; the estimation of labour and operating costs; the general global
markets and economic conditions; the risk associate d with exploration, development and
operations of mineral deposits; the estimation of m ineral reserves and resources; the risks
associated with uninsurable risks arising during th e course of exploration, development and
production; risks associated with currency fluctuat ions; environmental risks; competition faced in
securing experienced personnel; access to adequate infrastructure to support mining,
processing, development and exploration activities; the risks associated with changes in the
mining regulatory regime governing the Company; com pletion of the environmental assessment
process; risks related to regulatory and permitting delays; risks related to potential conflicts of
interest; the reliance on key personnel; financing, capitalization and liquidity risks including the
risk that the financing necessary to fund continued exploration and development activities at Lac
à Paul project may not be available on satisfactory terms, or at all; the risk of potential dilution
through the issue of common shares; the risk of litigation. Forward-looking information is based
on assumptions management believes to be reasonable at the time such statements are made,
including but not limited to, continued exploration activities, no material adverse change in
commodity prices, exploration and development plans proceeding in accordance with plans and
such plans achieving their stated expected outcomes , receipt of required regulatory approvals,
and such other assumptions and factors as set out h erein. Although the Company has attempted
to identify important factors that could cause actu al results to differ materially from those
contained in the forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to
be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such forward-looking
information will prove to be accurate, as actual re sults and future events could differ materially
from those anticipated in such forward-looking info rmation. Accordingly, readers should not
place undue reliance on forward-looking information . Forward-looking information is made as of
the date of this press release, and the Company doe s not undertake to update such forward-
looking information except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
SOURCE Arianne Phosphate Inc.
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http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/December 2017/21/c2545.html
%SEDAR: 00003556E
For further information: Source: Jean-Sébastien David, C.O.O., Tel. : 418-549-7316,
[email protected]; Info: Brian Ostroff, C.E.O., Tel. : 514-908-4202, brian.ostroff@arianne-
inc.com
CO: Arianne Phosphate Inc.
CNW 07:30e 21-DEC-17