The Project
Key facts
- Chatham Rock Phosphate holds 100% of the 4,726 square kilometre permit area (CSL 50270) estimated to contain 100 million tonnes of rock phosphate.Preliminary studies indicate the rock phosphate can be extracted using existing technology for much less than the cost of buying and importing it from Morocco.
- Successful extraction could result in a much reduced carbon footprint from the New Zealand fertiliser industry as all imported rock phosphate is presently shipped from the other side of the world.
- Sourcing this resource locally would significantly improve New Zealand’s balance of payments by reducing imports.
- Chatham Rise rock phosphate may be more environmentally friendly as a fertiliser where it is applied directly to pasture with previous Government studies indicating less subsequent run-off.
- The New Zealand owned Chatham Rock Phosphate has the resources and potential fund raising ability to finance the work programme to define the resource and complete financial feasibility.
- Any extraction of the resource would be conducted in accordance with the environmental guidelines published by the International Marine Minerals Society “Code for Environmental Management of Marine Mining”.
- The work programme for the first 12 months includes further reviews of the exploration data for the permit area, digitisation and re-analysis of data, environmental impact studies and a pre-feasibility study focusing on the project economics. These activities will be financed from existing resources.
- It’s likely the year-two work programme, which will include a full bankable feasibility study and the gathering of seabed samples in order to define the minable resource, will be significantly enlarged and fast tracked. Interest in this project from investors, the fertiliser sector and other mineral exploration companies indicate that funding of this later phase will be achievable.
History
The deposit was formed 7 to 12 million years ago. It was discovered by New Zealand scientists in 1952 and extensively explored during the 1970s and 1980s by a range of private and public sector scientists. An estimated $50 million in current dollar terms was spent on at least 7 different voyages, each involving several weeks.
The data collected means the deposit is now very well defined. The best-sampled area of 380 square kilometres has an identified resource of 30 million tonnes.
The price of rock phosphate has risen dramatically (10-fold) over recent years, peaking at $500 a tonne in 2008 before falling back. Over the past few months, as world economies show increasing strength, the price is rising once more.
Over the 20 years since the last serious exploration, extraction techniques have improved radically and it is expected extraction costs are expected to be substantially lower than the comparative cost of buying and shipping rock phosphate from the other side of the world.
Extraction and construction is now routine in shallow seas. Even in the 1970s magnesium nodules were being mined at depths 10 times greater than envisaged on the Chatham Rise. Nautilus Mining has estimated hard rock mining costs of $US50 to $US65 a tonne at depths of 2,000 metres and North Island iron sands are expected to be extracted from offshore deposits (at shallower depths) for $US4 to $US15 a tonne.
Project Economics
See Rockpoint report under "News"