Sunrise Resources PLC (AIM:SRES)’s chairman held a number of meetings with existing and new interested parties during a recent visit to the US, the company said in an update on its CS pozzolan-perlite project in Nevada.
Chairman Patrick Cheetham met with multiple parties, including two cement & ready-mix companies, one major fly-ash distributor, a large building materials company, and a new cement clean-tech company.
The ongoing talks are taking place amid a fundamental change in the cement and concrete industries driven by cement industry targets to achieve net-zero carbon dioxide emissions, said AIM-traded Sunrise.
Natural pozzolan is one of a range of materials, collectively known as Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCMs), that can partially replace cement in cement and concrete mixes. SCMs improve the long-term strength and resistance of concrete, versus concrete made using only Portland cement, and have strong environmental credentials as the production of Portland cement is responsible for 5% of worldwide man-made carbon dioxide emissions.
“I believe we are ahead of the curve on natural pozzolan, with one of the few fully permitted and undeveloped natural pozzolan deposits in the western US,” said Cheetham.
“Globally, over 4 billion tonnes of cement are produced every year and this results in 8% of man-made CO2 emissions. The industry in the US is committed to net-zero emissions and our recent discussions have underlined the role of natural pozzolan in meeting these targets.
“It is not surprising then that we are seeing an upsurge of interest in natural pozzolan, not just from the traditional cement and concrete companies, but also from the building materials companies that supply to those companies, as well as new generation clean-tech cement companies developing new types of carbon-neutral cements and concretes using natural pozzolans in their formulations.”
The company said it is confident that a partner will be found to ensure development of its pozzolan projects.