All,
Finally got a chance to sit down and write down some thoughts from my visit I had to BioNitrogen. I want to attach pictures but am having trouble. Can anybody help w/that??
I am on vacation in Florida and about an hour and fifteen minute drive North of their office in Wauchula. Given that I am down here, I couldn't pass up a chance for a visit at the BioNitrogen office. I had a great visit with Brian Samuels, Hardee County Facility Manager, who was dressed in his BioNitrogen polo shirt. He really seemed like the perfect choice for the position as his roots are from that area, he knows all the major players in the town, has lots of connections to people in power, plus he worked at Mosaic and has lots of experience in the fertilizer industry. I really think he'll be great for bring the construction phase of all this together when they break ground.
I got to look at the parcel maps with him regarding the site for the proposed first 3-5 plants in Wauchula. I learned that the large fertilizer company, CF Industries, is located just north of their piece of property, as well as another large fertilizer company, Mosaic, located to the west of their property. If you recall, CF, is the company they entered into an agreement with for getting biomass. CF Industries is digging ground for phosphate fertilizer and BioNitrogen is getting their biomass created created from that process. I had assumed with that massive amount of acreage they purchased that they would be clearing that themselves for biomass material, but he said if they clear any for that it'll be minimal and not noticeable. The main focus is to get renewable biomass from the sources they have around them, stuff that was going to be wasted anyway. The actual part of the property where they will build the plant(s) is already open and flat. He described to me that they'll have to basically dig part of that area up and they will end up selling the topsoil that is excavated. Trust me, there were all kinds of other specifics about the building process he shared but my visit was a few days ago and being on vaca, I haven't gotten a chance to sit down and put all my thoughts together in writing. It was all technical stuff that probably won't mean much to many of us; but suffice it to say, he certainly knows what he's talking about.
After chatting at the office location, Brian Samuels drove me to visit their actual 600-acre piece of property. We entered through a locked gate...I think on the Southwest corner of the property. There was also a large electric power station, Florida Power & Light (FPL) abutting their property. There may be some ongoing discussion w/FPL about supplying electric power to their proposed plants from that generator station, but the specifics and technical aspect of that are beyond my ability to explain with any lucidity. haha. Sorry can't give more info on that. I saw the first piles of biomass that they have actually started to collect on their property (so, yes, that PR was true). In fact, a delivery was happening when we arrived.
I know there have been a fair number of naysayers on this board, as well as people showing support of the company; and I have personally been on both sides of the fences. Initially I bought in without doing any DD on the people behind BION but rather focused my DD on the patent applications, technology, need for increased fertilizer production in the US, merit of the company and need for their product, etc. It was only after I invested that I learned of the shady people like Claude Eldridge and John Jarvis (thanks to nodummy and FlaFlyersFan) behind the reverse merger, which formed BION.
I still can't wrap my mind around why a bunch of seemingly intelligent people behind BioNitrogen (who created the whole technology to convert biomass to nitrogenous fertilizer) would reverse merger with the shell HIDE controlled by a couple of notorious scammers. Maybe they didn't do their due diligence with that shell company? Maybe they UNknowingly allowed insider enrichment? Maybe they knowingly allowed insider enrichment b/c they have connections with Eldridge and Jarvis? I don't know. That is my biggest question and concern with BION.
Regardless, I wanted to share the info I learned. BioNitrogen does truly exist, as if the evidence of all their meetings with the BCCC in Hardee County and the meeting minutes/agendas, video of the meeting with the BCCC, etc haven't been enough.
Yes, they are making good progress to the start of construction of their first plant. I think it's really a matter of not IF they will build a plant but WHEN. I personally wanted to go down and see everything for myself while I was down in the area...and wanted to share w/you what I found. It definitely made me feel more comfortable in my investment. Please don't take this as advice to buy, hold, or sell; make your own decisions, as I will make mine.
