Chatham Rock Phosphate explores mining potential in Australia

The Chatham Rock Phosphate company based in New Zealand is completing its acquisition of the Korella Mine in Queensland, Australia and has begun exploring opportunities to expand its resource base by mining phosphorites at its nearby Korella South site.

Chatham Rock Phosphate plans to mine phosphorites and then process them into phosphate rock at the Korella Mine for sale in the Australian domestic market in the amount of 250 thousand tons per year. The company will build a plant at the Korella South site for the extraction and enrichment of a million tons of phosphorites per year, which will be reloaded on ships in the port of Townsville and then exported to China.

Korella South’s prospects were driven by high global fertilizer prices and strong demand for low-cadmium phosphorus fertilizers.

Previously, Chatham Rock Phosphate planned to produce marine phosphorites from the Chatham submarine rise, located off the east coast of New Zealand.