The following is a technical summary of some examples of the past 15 years of Cypher Environmental Ltd.'s work with EarthZyme soil stabilizer. The use of environmentally friendly EarthZyme soil stabilizer can dramatically reduce costs associated with the construction and maintenance of new haul roads and the stabilization of existing haul roads. EarthZyme is a concentrated blend of enzymes, electrolytes and surfactants that produce fantastic results on suitable soils. After an application of EarthZyme, treated soils have shown to yield higher densities, increase California bearing ratio (CBR) values, and reduce permeability and swell. EarthZyme works on clay based soils, stabilizing them to comparable strengths of traditional aggregate haul roads. This results in a significant cost savings in expensive raw material inputs such as coarse sand and gravel, which are not required when a soil is stabilized with EarthZyme. EarthZyme soil stabilization has been successfully used in a variety of road construction projects. Specifically in a thoroughly studied project in Ecuador, EarthZyme treated soils were determined to yield a significant reduction in swell (170 %) and an increase in CBR (51 %). These modifications in soil properties, due to stabilization with EarthZyme, are consistently reported and long-lasting even though the product biodegrades (> 90 %) within 28 days. This report will go into greater detail regarding the advantages that EarthZyme can provide when introduced to any mine site. Further to the cost savings in raw materials, emphasis will be placed on the reduced maintenance requirements and costs that introducing EarthZyme to a road construction project exhibits through the long term stabilization and improved engineering characteristics of a stabilized soil. EarthZyme has a diverse application history; from humid climates like Southern China, and tropical Latin America to the arid Gobi Desert of Mongolia, or the extreme climates of West Africa, and Northern Alberta, Canada. The most challenging of these, in terms of climate and road requirements, has been the Athabasca oil deposits of Northern Alberta, Canada. The consistently low temperatures and high levels of precipitation combined with the extreme weight of haul trucks, 400-700 tonne loaded weights, required to mine the deposit was put to Cypher Environmental Ltd. as a challenge in 2009. Cypher Environmental Ltd. eagerly met this challenge and together with our Western Canadian distributor, Frontline Integrated Services Limited, and our other industry partners, have successfully reduced the cost of all-weather haul road construction while exceeding industry standards in the Athabasca Oil Sands and around the world.
