AXcess News: Silver Shines For Enviro-Ag Company.

RENO, Nev. -- Reno-based enviro-ag company, Itronics, Inc. (OTCBB:ITRO), reported a substantial cut in first-quarter losses Tuesday. Thanks in large part to higher silver prices and improvements in solids processing that cut costs in its refining process.

Itronics credited the improvement to higher sales of its liquid fertilizer in California, where weather plagued the company's results last year, even though spring rainfall was up 20 percent again in the current period, suggesting that its market for GOLD n'GRO liquid fertilizer is starting to become established there. Itronics reported a 14 percent increase in sales in the first quarter.

Itronics manufactures its fertilizer from photochemicals, which this year the envrio-ag company doubled the size of its plant thanks to a $3.25 million financing. That capacity boost carried over to its silver refining business, where Itronics manufactures 5-ounce of pure silver bars from the heavy metals recovered in its photochemical processing plant.

The Company reported that silver sales in the first quarter increased 170 percent and during that period the price of silver moved up 35 percent, which Itronics said would reflect in even better results in the second quarter. But what lies ahead is in the silver refinery, where the company's perfected a leaching process that removes 50 percent more of the solids before refining begins. Itronics noted that this cut refining costs in half. That action, when combined with higher silver prices, backs the company's statement about forecasting higher sales in the second quarter.

Silver has climbed substantially, setting record highs this year following Barclay's launch of its bullion-backed silver fund on the AMEX. The Fund's prospectus says that it would buy 110 million ounces to back its shares. Inflation fears have also added to silver's rise in price as energy prices rose during the same period. Silver has managed to hold up over $13 per ounce since the fund filled its need, suggesting commodity demand is still strong.

Note to Editors: AXcess News' "News Features" are stories provided to publishers copyright-free for print or online display at no charge. All we ask is that publishers include our byline (AXcess News) as the source and a link to our Web site: http://www.axcessnews.com. If you are interested in displaying our news on a regular basis, please contact our editorial department at: 775-841-5368.