Itronics Reports 2018 Year End Results; Updates Operations Expansion and Diversification Progress
RENO, Nev., April 12, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Itronics Inc. (OTC:ITRO) a Greentech Fertilizer, Silver, and Mineral Producer, today summarized its operations and diversification progress and announced sales results for the fourth quarter and full year which ended December 31, 2018.
Itronics' Total Revenues for the three months ended December 31, 2018 were $302,598 compared to $419,231 in the same period in 2017. Total Revenues for the full year ended December 31, 2018 were $1,312,848 compared to $1,850,573 in 2017. As previously reported, fertilizer sales were down significantly due to poor weather in the first half of 2018.
The outlook for fertilizer sales in 2019 is for a substantial increase, driven by a strong marketing program which was started in the fourth quarter 2018. First quarter 2019 sales were up more than 50 percent compared to the prior year’s first quarter. The outlook for silver sales is for an increase due to stabilized pilot scale circuit board refining operations, and a contribution from the newly introduced “Silver Nevada Miner” 5-ounce collector bars. A silver bullion shipment was made in January 2019, and “Silver Nevada Miner" 5-ounce collector bar sales began in February 2019.
The year 2018 was pivotal for Itronics as it continues implementing long term diversification and expansion based upon increasing GOLD’n GRO fertilizer sales, expanding its “Breakthrough Technology” printed circuit board refining operations, planning staged implementation of operation for other technologies within its portfolio of “Zero Waste Technologies,” and establishing a development plan for its Auric Fulstone silver gold zinc copper exploration project in Nevada.
Following is a summary of the Company’s accomplishments in 2018, in order of their importance for the Company’s diversification and expansion:
In May the Company announced that it had entered into an option agreement to purchase a 48-acre manufacturing site at Wabuska, Nevada that includes 60,000 square feet of buildings and a rail siding to be used as an expansion property. The Company plans to initially use this site to expand its GOLD’n GRO fertilizer manufacturing operations to be followed later by circuit board refining and other metal recovery operations.
In early October the Company announced that it had expanded its GOLD’n GRO fertilizer sales team by hiring an experienced sales manager to lead the sales effort and launching an expanded marketing program to introduce the GOLD’n GRO fertilizers to a larger customer base.
During the year the Company completed important steps in perfecting its pilot scale printed circuit board refining operations. In March the Company announced that it had taken delivery of a commercial scale e-scrap grinder for grinding shredded circuit boards (e-scrap) to feed its refining furnaces. In June the Company announced that using circuit board feed for its refining furnaces that is being ground up by the new e-scrap grinder made it possible to increase the per melt yield by more than 50 percent. The silver content per melt was also increased by 50 percent.
In November the Company installed and successfully started up a centrifuge whose purpose is to significantly shorten the time and reduce the cost to perform liquid/solids separations in its hydrometallurgical processing of certain silver-bearing feed materials for the refining operations. The expected benefits are being achieved, making this an important process technology breakthrough for the Company.
A confidential Fulstone Project report was updated in early January 2018. The updated report identifies five target areas and recommends a 10-hole investigative drill program consisting of two drill holes for each target area. In October the Company announced the discovery, by surface sampling, of surface 0.4 troy ounce per ton gold at one location and five percent copper at another location at the Fulstone Project. The gold was found within one of the five identified target areas. The copper was found at a location that extends a previously identified mineralized zone by 2000 feet from 5,000-foot strike length to 7,000 feet strike length.
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