Itronics reports 2016 first half total revenues and updates operations expansion and diversification prgress

Itronics Inc., a diversified fertilizer and silver producing green technology company, announced sales results and summarized its operations and diversification progress for the six months ended June 30, 2016. Total first half sales decreased 23 percent on a 23 percent decrease in fertilizer sales, a 10 percent increase in silver sales, and a 9 percent increase in photo services sales.

Total Revenues for the 6 months ended June 30, 2016 were $968,000 compared to $1,256,000 in the same period in 2015, a decrease of 23 percent. GOLD’n GRO fertilizer sales volume decreased by 27 percent, but revenues were only down 23 percent due to a shift in product mix. The decline in sales was due to heavy rains in our California markets during the first quarter and a reduction in fertilizer purchases by nut tree growers due to an almost 50 percent reduction in the farm prices for almonds and English walnuts. Silver sales increased 10 percent. Photo Services increased 9 percent due to a 12 percent increase in spent silver-bearing photoliquids received. Silver content of those liquids was the same as the 2015 first half and is now in the unprocessed photo liquid inventory for future recovery.

Itronics is aggressively advancing development of its portfolio of new “Zero Waste” technologies whose objective is to create non-seasonal sales and to diversify sales by extending its existing technologies to new applications. The focus of these technology extensions is on processing materials that contain silver and other precious metals.

Early in the third quarter the Company announced that the 5 times pilot leach plant scale- up is nearing completion. The new leaching technology has advanced to the point that a fourth product, elemental sulfur, is now being recovered. Removal of sulfur increases the capacity of the silver refining furnaces.

A melting campaign to develop e-scrap refining procedures, to determine quantities that can be processed, and to evaluate the recovery of gold, palladium, and other metals from the e- scrap is making progress. We are now producing bullion which will be analyzed to obtain quantitative metal content information as the work progresses. This work is demonstrating that economically meaningful amounts of e-scrap can be processed by the refining furnaces, which is a very positive development and means that e-scrap recycling may now be feasible for Itronics.

For the full report go to http://www.itronics.com/091316.shtml.