A first round of funding has been secured by Plaman Resources Ltd, which trades as Plaman Global. More than $28 million has been raised for the development, and more is sought.
Plaman’s general manager in New Zealand, Craig Pilcher, when contacted, said public consultation, including in Middlemarch, would get under way by the end of this month or early next month, including with the Otago Regional Council, Dunedin City Council, iwi, the Strath Taieri Community Board and the public.
"We expect people will have a lot of questions, so there will be a fair bit of engagement [ahead]," he said.
Mr Pilcher said the first tranche of funding would be used mainly for land purchases, increasing corporate staffing and further diatomite trials with prospective customers.
"More private [fund] raising is in progress," he said.
The Foulden Hills site, up to 1000m in diameter and 180m deep, was a volcano about 23 million years ago. It became a lake and over the next 130,000 years it was layered and filled with decaying, silica-bearing microscopic plant life.
"Quarrying is planned to commence in 2021, some preliminary infrastructure works will commence before this," Mr Pilcher said.
Many fulltime staff directly employed by Plaman would be trained during 2021, as well as staff for large service providers who would be needed.
The diatomite at Foulden is rare in having a high organic content. It would be processed into stockfeed supplement for poultry, pigs, dairy and beef. When asked about customers, Mr Pilcher said there were large companies across the United States, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina which had committed to undertake finished-product trials.
Ultimately, he believed the top export markets would be "a fairly even split", across North America, South America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region.
Plaman has an application before the Overseas Investment Office, to buy a further area of about 400ha at Foulden Hills.
Foulden Hills Quarry
• Corporate staff hiring 2018-19.
• Staff for quarry pilot plant from 2019.
• Quarrying starts 2021.
• Further staff and training 2021.
• Commercial production early 2022.
• Estimated up to 40 quarry jobs and 90 processing
