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Hunger pains for African fertilisers

hile Morocco continues to shine as one of the world’s top-four
Wfertiliser exporters, a number of other African countries are PhosCo Ltd
looking to join the industry at a time when the sector needs it most. Country: Tunisia
Africa’s historical food supply issues have worsened this year due Market cap: $35.6 million
to the knock-on effects from the conflict in Ukraine. Combined with a
sweeping drought across the continent, farmers on the continent now PhosCo is currently working on the PFS for its Chaketma phos-
need fertiliser more than ever to feed their crops. phate project, which hosts a 148.5mt @ 20.6% P2O5 resource.
The Food and Agriculture Organization and the African Union re- The project is being designed as an open pit, low strip mine
cently estimated more than 300 million Africans were affected by the with access to gas, grid power, roads and ports.
food crisis, while the UN suspects the world’s supply of fertilisers have Chaketma’s resource is currently supported by two deposits,
almost halved over the past 12 months. with another four waiting in the halls to help boost the project’s
Fertiliser prices rose to $US287.5/t in July following an estimate by fundamentals.
Statista last year that global demand had topped at 200mt. Being close to Europe, and in a country already established as
One of the sources for fertiliser production is phosphate, or phos- an oil and gas exporter, will continue to be a major contributor to
phorous rock. Up to 90% of the world’s phosphate is used in agricul- Chaketma’s investor attractiveness.
ture, with primary production delivered by the likes of Morocco (37%), PhosCo claims Chaketma’s KEL resource, which currently
China (26.6%), South Africa (9.7%), the US (9.7%) and Jordan (5.8%). provides 55.5mt, has the potential to be its own 30-year mine
In July, China enacted a “quota system” to limit the exports of its due to the consistent, wide and high-grade mineralisation close
phosphate in the second half of the year to protect the country’s food to surface.
security. It comes after China already mildly restricted phosphate ex- In July, PhosCo raised $2 million in an early exercise of options
ports in October. and strengthened relations with the Tunisian Government after
Another source of fertiliser production is sulphate of potash (SoP) APM Graphics Management > CBE_QPV-Advert_Paydirt_Final.indd > Output: 6/7/2022 @ 18:22 > Page 1 (Pr
the permitting of a development concession for Chaketma.
APM Graphics Management > CBE_QPV-Advert_Paydirt_Final.indd > Output: 6/7/2022 @ 18:22 > Page 1 (Pr
APM Graphics Management > CBE_QPV-Advert_Paydirt_Final.indd > Output: 6/7/2022 @ 18:22 > Page 1 (Pr
APM Graphics Management > CBE_QPV-Advert_Paydirt_Final.indd > Output: 6/7/2022 @ 18:22 > Page 1 (Pr
which is primarily produced in Russia, Chile, China, Germany, Can- “The funding boost comes as development progresses at
ada and Belgium. Chaketma following encouraging early engagement with both
Paydirt journalist Fraser Palamara takes a look at the ASX-listed the Tunisian Government as well as commercial and investment
companies busily preparing projects capable of feeding Africa’s – and banks,” PhosCo executive director Taz Aldaoud said.
the world’s – nutritional needs.

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