Rock Phosphate on the Chatham Rise
Chatham Rock Phosphate Ltd holds an exploration licence over an area off the coast of New Zealand believed to have significant seabed deposits of rock phosphate and other potentially valuable minerals.
The licence area of 4,276 square kilometres is 450 km east of Christchurch, at very shallow depths on the Chatham Rise and in New Zealand territory.
Extraction of the rock phosphate would provide a locally produced alternative to the 1 million tonnes of this material annually used in New Zealand and primarily imported from Morocco, thereby reducing our carbon footprint as well as high transport and foreign exchange costs.
Rock phosphate is an essential ingredient of manufactured fertiliser and can be applied directly to pasture with less environmental damage than super-phosphate from run-off. Extensive exploration in the 1970s and 1980s identified a potential 100-year supply for the New Zealand market. Recent substantial increases in the market value of rock phosphate and advances in offshore extraction technology mean it is now feasible to harvest this resource. The deposits are comprised of nodules lying on the seabed at relatively shallow depths and the relevant technology for such extraction is used routinely.
This website provides regular updates of the project and a resource of technical, environmental, investor and media information, linking to and from the www.widespread.co.nz website.
Wider benefits
- Reduced exposure to currency risk
- Reduced commodity risk
- Known fixed costs
- Reduced import burden on NZ economy
- Reduced carbon footprint
- NZ owned and controlled
- Possible export earnings
