Eden Innovations wins major US contract for supply of EdenCrete
This will be both the largest single contract to have been awarded to date for the use of EdenCrete and the first involving joint Federal and State funding.
Australian clean technology solutions provider Eden Innovations (ASX: EDE) has been awarded a contract for the supply of approximately A$726,000 of its proprietary EdenCrete carbon-strengthened concrete additive in a major highway repair project at Twiggs County, Georgia.
The contract is the largest of its kind awarded to date for EdenCrete and represents a significant milestone for Eden as it expands its sales footprint into the United States’ infrastructure and commercial concrete markets.
Jointly funded by the Federal Highway Administration and the Georgia Department of Transportation, the project will involve the replacement of more than 8000 cubic metres of concrete pavement along 17 kilometres of the Interstate Highway I-16 in Twiggs County.
It is anticipated approximately 79,000 litres of EdenCrete worth around A$726,000, will be required for the works, which must be completed by end March 2019.
The GDOT tender, which specified that concrete used for the job must meet certain specified performance levels, was advertised in April and the contract issued to the main contractor in July.
Eden later received “firm confirmation” that its product will be used in the project to assist the main contractor meet the specified concrete performance levels.
Independent confirmation testing using EdenCrete will be conducted this month before the works commence.
Stronger cement and concrete
EdenCrete is a carbon nanotube-enriched admixture for concrete that significantly improves tensile and flexural strength without compromise to compressive strength, permeability, or corrosion resistance.
It was designed to facilitate denser, tougher, stronger cement and longer-lasting, more durable concrete in applications worldwide, while improving resistance to abrasive wear and shrinkage.
When added to concrete mixtures, EdenCrete fills in spaces at a nanoscopic level between the hydrated cement particles to create millions of flexible carbon bridges throughout the dried end product.
Eden said the bridges improve resistance to failure caused by bending stresses, resulting in greater resistance to abrasive wear and crack propagation.
Georgia land acquisition
In a move related to the Twiggs County contract, Eden Innovations announced this week it had completed the A$1.6m acquisition of developed industrial land approximately 4km from the centre of Augusta in Georgia.
The 65-acre block was purchased from Meridian Brick and will be used by Eden for future large-scale EdenCrete production.
The near-level site features an existing rail siding, a 22-room office building, maintenance shed, large hard-stand areas and connected utilities and could save Eden up to 12 months and several million dollars in development compared to the original proposed site.
Tasman shareholding
In July, Eden’s part-shareholder Tasman Resources (ASX: TAS) announced it would exercise through its wholly-owned subsidiary Noble Energy, 60 million Eden Innovations options (being a portion of its previous holding of 73,856,779 options) for A$1.8m.
The exercise increased Tasman’s shareholding in Eden to 580,698,298 fully paid shares, representing 40.22% of Eden’s total issued capital.
Tasman will continue to hold Eden shares and options over the long-term and believes there is “potentially significant further upside” to the investment.
At midday, shares in Eden Innovations were trading 20.41% higher at $0.059, while Tasman Resources shares were up 9.80% to $0.056.