The proposed transaction with Forge contemplates Forge leasing up to four acres at the site for the construction of a new 25 million liter nameplate capacity renewable diesel production facility. Forge will be responsible for obtaining funding for the project, which Forge estimates to be approximately $25 million in order to bring the facility into production. Subject to the entering into of definitive agreements with Forge, BIOX would operate and manage production at the facility.

Forge is conducting preliminary engineering to determine the site’s suitability for the facility, which it expects to complete by the spring of 2017. An agreement to co-locate is subject to, among other things, a successful outcome from the pre-engineering work, Forge securing the necessary funding and an agreement on commercial terms between BIOX and Forge as it relates to the land lease and operations agreement.

Renewable diesel and biodiesel are both produced from fats and oils. Renewable diesel is a diesel molecule that can be dropped-in to existing distillate fuels while biodiesel is a methyl ester that requires proper blending with diesel fuels. BIOX believes the two fuels represent complementary compliance pathways for any obligated parties and broadens the sales and marketing offerings.

BIOX owns and operates 287.5 million liters (76 million gallons) of nameplate biodiesel production capacity at plants located in Houston, Texas and two facilities in southern Ontario. BIOX has an innovative, proprietary and patented production process that is capable of producing biodiesel utilizing a variety of feedstocks—from pure seed oils to animal fats to recovered vegetable oils with no change to the production process. BIOX’s biodiesel meets North American (ASTM D-6751) quality standards.

Forge Hydrocarbons is commercializing a patented conversion process developed by Dr. David Bressler, a researcher in the Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Alberta.