Eden surges on US deal

Innovative concrete manufacturer Eden Energy has received a $US25 million ($A32 million) incentive package to progress construction of a production facility in the US state of Georgia.

The incentives will be provided by the Georgia Economic Development Authority and the Augusta Economic Development Authority, with the latter also providing a grant for 45 hectares of serviced land in the Augusta Industrial Park, where the company plans to build a large scale manufacturing facility.

The news sent Eden shares soaring today, with the company’s stock closing 36.5 per cent higher to 23.2 cents each.

Eden is based in Perth, but its wholly-owned subsidiary EdenCrete Industries operates in the US.

The production plant is expected to cost about $US67 million and will be used to both manufacture Eden’s carbon-based ‘EdenCrete’ concrete additive and export the product throughout the US and globally.

The first phase of the plant is expected to handle a total output of 189 million litres of the concrete product annually.

Eden’s concrete additive has been trialled by the Georgian Department of Transportation for use on highways.

The product increases the strength and improves a range of other performance characteristics of concrete, making it suitable for use in the construction of roads, bridges and other infrastructure.

“The backing from the Georgia government is the milestone in Eden’s efforts to break into the huge US concrete market with EdenCrete,” chairman Gregory Solomon said.

“The five-year product development of EdenCrete has been shown by the recent successful in-situ trials on Georgia’s highway to have delivered a revolutionary carbon nanotube enriched liquid admixture that greatly improves the strength and performance of concrete.

“The American financial and grant support follows nearly 12 months of discussions and analysis with various government officials and shows the significant level of support that the state of Georgia has for Eden’s project aspirations.

“We can now move forward as market momentum grows to establish the new plant with a view to commissioning a large scale operation by late in 2018 to early in 2019.”

Mr Solomon said the incentive package would reduce both up-front capital costs and operational setup costs of establishing the large scale manufacturing operation in Georgia, while defraying operating costs for up to 20 years.

“The incentive package will also greatly enhance the overall attractiveness of the project to future investors and lenders for fund raising purposes,” he said.