FORT MEADE, Fla.

April 8, 2019

JDCPhosphate, Inc. announced today that it is moving to commercialization and changing its name to Novaphos Inc. The company’s Novaphos technology, formerly called IHP, enables sustainable production of high-quality super-phosphoric acid (SPA) using low-quality phosphate rock without creating toxic phosphogypsum waste. Novaphos also announced that it had made additional process improvements that further enhanced the efficiency and reliability of the Novaphos technology.

“Our new name is intended to signify Novaphos’ readiness to move into the next phase of its business,” said Timothy Cotton, CEO of Novaphos. “We will work with industry partners to commercialize our technology for making phosphate products that are vital to global food production.”

The Novaphos technology for producing phosphoric acid for agricultural and industrial uses is the most significant advance in decades for the phosphate industry. This patented technology uses a carbo-thermal reduction and oxidation process to recover phosphate from low-quality phosphate sources, including previously processed mine tailings. The process avoids direct acidulation of phosphate rock, minimizing the amount of waste and completely avoiding phosphogypsum production.

Instead, the Novaphos process co-produces a commercially useful aggregate for construction and road building called J-Rox, which are the solid balls that remain after phosphate has been extracted during processing.

During the first quarter of 2019, Novaphos built on previous success at its demonstration plant in Fort Meade, Florida, to make additional improvements to the technology. It is now achieving phosphate yields of about 80 percent. Acid quality also continues to improve, with impurities at about 2 percent of SPA-equivalent acid with strong potential for further improvement at commercial scale. 

Novaphos continues to run its demonstration plant using only low-quality phosphate rock tailings, containing an average of about 14% phosphate as P2O5, with high levels of silica and other impurities, including magnesium oxide.

“The latest improvements to the Novaphos technology are very significant,” said Ron Cambre, Novaphos board member and former CEO of Newmont Mining. “Based on my long career in mineral processing, including phosphates, I am excited to see the technology poised to start addressing the fundamental needs of the phosphate sector while minimizing toxic waste.”

Novaphos has been granted multiple U.S. and international patents covering its Novaphos technology. Novaphos is expanding its base of intellectual property based on its most recent process improvements.

The company has started a process of engagement with major phosphate producers and engineering companies to fully commercialize the Novaphos technology.