Eden jumps on US contract

The share price of Perth-based Eden Innovations jumped as much as 28.6 per cent this morning after the company announced the largest single contract for its EdenCrete concrete additive.

The shares finished 12.2 per cent up at 5.5 cents at the market close.

A contract for $725,000, jointly awarded to Eden by the US Federal Highway Administration and Georgia Department of Transport, is the largest single contract to date for the use of EdenCrete.

The project involves replacing about 18 kilometres of the interstate highway in Twiggs County, Georgia.

Approximately 79,000 litres of the unique additive will be used during the project, which is scheduled to be completed before April 2019.

It is also the first joint federal and state-funded infrastructure project with Eden Innovations.

The company said this represented a major milestone for EdenCrete as it continued to expand into the huge US infrastructure and commercial concrete markets.

EdenCrete was developed in conjunction with The University of Queensland following an Australian Research Council grant in 2013, and won several awards in 2014.

It was further developed with Monash University and underwent positive trials in 2015.

The innovative concrete additive is enriched with carbon nanotubes to improve the performance of concrete mixtures.

The company’s share price enjoyed strong gains during 2015 and 2016 but has fallen over the last two years, following consecutive losses largely due to investments in property, plant and equipment.

Investment costs have predominantly been offset through share issuances from 2015 to 2017, which could potentially have diluted the share price.

Eden is also discussing further infrastructure projects with transport agencies in the states of Virginia and North Carolina.