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Billions earmarked for new phosphate rock mines

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Two planned developments will expand Australia’s role in mining rock phosphate. A small player globally in phosphate, with production based on one major mine (Phosphate Hill) in Queensland and Christmas Island, in the Indian Ocean two planned northern Australia mines are set to change that.

  
In Queensland, 120km north of west of Mount Isa, Legend International plans to mine phosphate and subsequently process it into fertilisers and transport it by truck to the Mount Isa rail head. The project is known as Paradise South.
 
Legend International, listed in the US, is run by Joseph Gutnick, known in Australian mining for his near-ruin following the 1987 stock market crash and subsequent recovery through gold mining in Western Australia.
 
About 230km east of tenant Creek in the Northern Territory, the lower-profile company, Minemakers, also plans to mine phosphate and subsequently processing it into fertilisers (see sample report). Known as Wonarah, it has NT government environmental approval and will include in the medium-term, a new 260km rail line from the mine site to Tennant Creek, to join the rail line to Darwin. Both projects will each cost more than $1bn to develop fully.

There is optimism about the outlook for phosphate prices, given strongly increasing demand from China, India and other developing countries.
 
Some 90% of the world’s reserves are held by Morocco + Western Sahara, China, South Africa, Jordan and the US.


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