Planktos drops ocean-iron dreams as it changes hands, direction

The days of ocean-iron fertilization projects are behind Palm Springs-based Planktos (OTC: PLKT.PK).

The company changed hands this week, with Solar Energy Limited selling its 53-percent stake in Planktos to Nicosia, Cyprus-based Maidon Services Limited for $200,000 (see Cleantech deals don't slow in final weeks of '08).

As of this week, CEO Enrique J. Lopez de Mesa (who also served as CFO and principal accounting officer) stepped down after two months on the job, giving all three roles to Michael James Gobuty.

Gobuty, a director with Solar Energy Limited and Planktos, is coming out of retirement for the role. He previously was a garment industry consultant, as well as the owner of a hockey team, according to Planktos filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He also financed and developed condominiums.

Planktos is now negotiating to buy private company Churchill Mining, which owns the rights to acquire and redevelop two copper properties in northeast British Columbia. Planktos then plans to change its name to Lobo Resources and secure $1 million in a private placement.

It's a far cry from Planktos's high-profile, but failed, attempts to perform large scale ocean iron fertilization projects, which the company said could sequester carbon, thus earning carbon credits.

Groups pursuing ocean iron fertilization aim to scale and speed up that natural process by introducing trace amounts of iron into the ocean to trigger large blooms of phytoplankton, which live near the surface. As they continually bloom, mature and die in a 60-day lifecycle, part of the phytoplankton's biomass sinks into the depths of the ocean, locking away carbon for long periods of time (see Plankton to the rescue).

Ocean oversight groups balked at Planktos's business plan, banning the practice (see Despite opposition, ocean iron fertilization forging ahead).

Planktos planned to skirt the ocean-dumping laws by using foreign vessels. Its $800,000 research ship, the Weatherbird II, was then denied entry to a port in the Canary Islands where it planned to load its scientific equipment, staff and supplies.

Soon after, Planktos wound the business down due to problems fundraising, issuing a news release blaming "ideological hostility to and misrepresentations" for the fundraising woes.

"A highly effective disinformation campaign waged by anti-offset crusaders has provoked widespread opposition to plankton restoration," the release said.

San Francisco-based Climos, a one-time rival for Planktos, is still in the field, working with those environmental groups to get more data about ocean iron fertilization. In October, the governing body for ocean-fertilization projects issued a resolution impeding the prospect for commercially driven experiments in the foreseeable future (see Murky waters for commercial ocean fertilization projects).

Copper mining isn't the first re-invention for Planktos, which has been around in different forms since 1998. The company was first an Internet travel services company called eWorld Travel, later changing its name to GYK Ventures and Diatom before settling on Planktos in the spring of 2007.