Organic Potash Corporation announced a significant event, with respect to its operations in West Africa. OPC together with NCV, its joint-venture partner in Côte d'Ivoire have executed on December 30, 2019, a joint-development agreement (“JDA”) with Electricité de France S.A. (“EDF”). EDF is a global leader in low-carbon energy production.

The JDA enables the completion of detailed technical studies and negotiation of financial terms over the next year, leading to the launch of a first industrial plant using cocoa pod husks to annually produce electricity (1.8MW) and 2,500 tonnes of ash which will be transformed into a mix of food grade potassium carbonate crystals (at 99% purity), potassium carbonate solution and organic sourced fertilisers using OPC's licenced technology. As a term of the JDA, OPC will be contributing technical expertise. Following the potential successful launch of this first integrated energy/potash plant, the project partners intend to install similar modular units with an objective to produce an annual minimum of 10MW of electricity and process over 12,500 tonnes of cocoa husk ash in Côte d'Ivoire.

Africa supplies approximately 75% of global cocoa. Ivory Coast alone produces 43%. This represents a unique opportunity for major growth prospects for OPC and its technology.

From a socio-economic impact perspective, the project is expected to increase and diversify the revenues of cocoa farmers, especially women, provide electricity to remote rural regions through mini-grids, reduce imports of potassium carbonate for local chocolate manufacturers, provide organically sourced fertiliser to farmers and reduce the impact of pests and diseases on cocoa farmers as a results of cocoa husks previously abandoned on farms.