Plaman held the mining rights and planned to turn all of the fossil-containing diatomite into an additive for incorporating into the food of intensively farmed animals such as ducks and pigs. Initial seed funding of about US$20 million (NZ$28 million) was raised through Goldman Sachs New Zealand Holdings, the Auckland branch of New York stock-exchange listed investment bank in August 2018. The financial viability of these plans was reported to hinge on the purchase of an adjoining farm, which the OIO must rule on. No timetable was set for the decision. The proposal involved building a new $36.8m processing plant at Milton to crush the diatomite before shipping offshore from Port Chalmers or Bluff. It was estimated by the company that the trucking and processing would create 100 jobs over 27 years. Plaman discussed with local councils applying to New Zealand's Provincial Growth Fund for help with the costs of building the processing plant, although no application was made.*
