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Biocane Ltd MEDIA RELEASE 6 May 2010

 BioCane Ltd is pleased to announce that its major shareholders associated with Yinmore Sugar from China have agreed to provide the direct funding of $712,000 now needed to commission the company’s plant at Nambour with a view to commencing commercial production this year. Funding will be by way of a loan convertible to equity.

 Now that this funding is in place, the company will seek to raise a further $300,000 for working capital from other existing shareholders and supporters. Many of the existing 240 Australian resident shareholders had previously pledged further financial investment in the company but the board felt it should put the commissioning funding in place first.

 The combination of the two sources are budgeted to be sufficient to pay all existing creditors and enable the company to successfully process 30,000 tonnes of sugar cane into 10,000 tonnes of “CowCandy” this year. This will enable the company to launch the animal fodder onto the South Korean and Japanese markets and obtain firm orders for next year’sproduction.

 Many of the local cane growers are shareholders in BioCane and have pledged their ongoing support for the company at a recent meeting in Salway’s shed where the company housed its initial pilot plant. However the limited capacity of the plant this year will mean some local cane will be sold to Maryborough Mill with the blessing of BioCane. The win for the growers will be revenue this year from both sources and clean paddocks to plant a fresh crop for next year. This will ensure a premium product for next year, and greater quantities of cane. 

 A key team of technical personnel has been retained to undertake the work needed to enable the plant to start processing local sugar cane in July/August. Mr Scott Grimley has retired as General Manager. Dr Druce Batstone, the inventor of the unique BioCane drying process, has been appointed as General Manager to oversee the commissioning and Yinmore representative Chunqing Liu has been appointed as Deputy General Manager. Mr Suming Yuan continues as Chair and Noosa based barrister Mr John Rivett continues as Deputy Chair.

 Meantime, Grant Thornton Accountants are part way through a review of the technical and budgetary aspects of the plant with the assistance of Sugar Research Institute. This report was funded last month by a special $80,000 grant from the Queensland Government. A preliminary report has been delivered to the company and a final review of the report is still underway.

 Mr Rivett paid tribute to the State Government for their initiative and said that their support and the preliminary Grant Thornton report undoubtedly helped convince the Yinmore investors to invest further in this enterprise. “This is a great example of how Governments and private enterprise can work together to secure much needed foreign capital. I wish to thank the Government and local manager Bruce Duncan for this initiative” he said.

 Yinmore Sugar is partly owned by Bright Foods who recently made a bid for the CSR sugar assets.

 “Our Chinese partners have proven to be very honorable in our still developing relationship. One thing is for sure, we would not still be in business without them.” Mr Rivett said “I have enjoyed working with them and experiencing how they co-operatively make decisions. We are so lucky to have met them. The future for BioCane looks bright with opportunities for these plants in other parts of Australia and overseas.”

 John Rivett – Deputy Chairman Biocane - 0400 760 805

MEDIA RELEASE 6 April 2010

 

BioCane Ltd has nearly completed constructing its plant at Nambour on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast to dry whole sugar cane crops into animal fodder called “CowCandy”. The product is rich in energy and fibre, and is expected to be highly sought after by local and overseas markets.

 Last month the plant was put into a stand down mode to enable the company to finalise negotiations for further equity funding.

 Deputy Chair John Rivett said today that the company is negotiating with various parties to invest further capital with a view to starting commercial processing the local crop in July. He said he had met with shareholder growers who had pledged support and cane supply provided the plant can process their cane this year. He said that “all steps are being taken by the Board and key personnel to ensure a successful opening, but the company needs new equity to achieve this.”

 Mr Rivett announced that BioCane received support from the Queensland State Government to assist with engaging external expertise to work with the management on a comprehensive review of the commercialization plan. Consulting firm Grant Thornton will provide guided expertise which will include assistance on the technical aspects of the operation from paddock to feedlot. The final outcome expected End May 2010 will be an enhanced and robust action plan for the commissioning and initial operations of the plant.

 Mr Rivett said that the Queensland Government’s support will greatly assist in potentially securing further equity and improving the long term sustainability of the sugar industry on the Sunshine Coast. 

 The Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation through the Sunshine Coast Centre has been supportive of the project since 2004.

 Mr Rivett said that “the Government is to be applauded for their support, and I express thanks for this on behalf of the long suffering growers and shareholders”.

 The BioCane project is recognized as a crucial component to ensuring a sustainable future for cane production in the region. The project supports the Queensland Government’s strategic intentions within the recently released Strategic Cropping Land – Policy and Planning Framework Discussion Paper.

 Mr Rivett advised that Mayor Bob Abbott and local Councillors have been kept up to date with developments and are providing assistance where possible to the company.

 John Rivett

Deputy Chairman Biocane Limited

– 0400 760 805

 

BIOCANE BOARD ANNOUNCEMENT

23 February 2010

 The company’s technical team has now successfully completed commissioning trials on all of the various components of the plant and has been able to process the cane into our “CowCandy” product, except only for the final process of mixing the desiccated juice back into the dried fibre. It is not anticipated that this will be a problem. There is an issue needing to be resolved with the stability of the fan in the drier, but once again the team believes that this can be resolved, but it will involve further expenditure. We have successfully sold some of the processed bulk product without the juice returned.

 It was planned to proceed immediately to process approximately 28,000 tonnes of cane standing in the fields of our quota shareholders. There is a difficulty with this in that the product handling facilities have not been completed which means that the product can only be delivered in bulk at this point of time.

 Regrettably the board has resolved not to proceed to attempt to process this cane now, but to immediately place the plant on full “off season stand by mode”. The decision has been made primarily due to our shortage of working capital which has resulted from the technical delays in commissioning the plant. The fact that the process handling facilities have not been completed and the recent wet weather have contributed to this decision.

 The company now needs to raise further working capital in order to be viable, with the plan that the plant can reopen in about June and process this standing cane and then immediately move on to process the 2010 crop currently growing.

 Sadly this means that we will have to terminate all of the staff immediately. The board deeply regrets this action and is acutely aware of the hardship this will cause our loyal and competent staff. On behalf of the shareholders, the board wishes to express our sincere thanks to all of the staff who have worked in extremely stressful and difficult conditions over the past few months.

 The board is doing everything in its power to place the company in the position where it can re hire the staff at the earliest possible time and reopen the plant for the 2010 processing. The board is negotiating with sophisticated and corporate investors to contribute the needed working capital in one lump sum, and provided this can be put in place, intends to honour its commitment to make a formal offer to all existing shareholders to buy further shares at 20 cents as previously announced. The board withdrew its Prospectus dated 22 January 2010, but if the further lump sum investment can be arranged, the Board plans to lodge a new Offer Information Statement or Prospectus later in the year.

 The board also advises of the resignation of Ruth Salway, who is battling cancer, as a Director and Secretary and expresses sincere thanks to her for her outstanding contribution to the company since inception, and we all wish her the very best in the future and success in her health battle. 

 John Rivett, Acting Chairman