Fertoz Limited announced it has signed a 10-year contract to continue its rock phosphate operations at Deerlodge, Montana. Fertoz has been operating at Deerlodge with organic certification since 2018 under a five-year contract, which enabled it to establish its high-quality rock phosphate business. Rock material from Deerlodge has high phosphate levels with low metal content capable of organic certification.

It is hauled from Deerlodge to Butte, Montana to Fertoz's processing partner, Centennial, for crushing, screening and sizing. Fertoz will use material from Deerlodge its joint-venture fertilizer pellet production process, also based in Montana, which is set to commence in early 2023. Securing a 10-year lease extension at Deerlodge follows Fertoz's recent announcement of confirmed sales of 18,000 tons of its Fertify fertilizer pellet product and a ten-year offtake agreement with 120,000 tonnes of rock phosphate in the first five year in addition to its existing agreement with Replenish Nurtients Ltd. for 10,000 tonnes/year, which has four years left to run.

These agreements position Fertoz to deliver 40,000 tonnes of rock phosphate in 2023, which is an expected increase of 230% versus 2022 volumes. As it's sales continue to grow, Fertoz aims to complete full mine studies in 2023 and plan for the most cost-effective, long-term extraction methods. These efforts will include: JORC Resource/Reserve Estimates; Short and long-term mine plans; Updated permitting; Identifying most efficient extraction methods for mining.

These activities aim to ensure a steady supply of high-quality phosphate to its growing base of customers in the USA as well as new customers gained via the Fertify joint venture.