Page 48 - pd281-Apr20-mag-web_Neat

ReGIonAL RoUnDUP

I think Angola showed
Minbos back and tolerance with the lack
quite a lot of patience

in vogue in “ogress that was made
of pr
on the project. It would have
Angola been a very difficult decision
for the Government to go
ahead with us.

Lindsay Reed

aving spent more than $20 million on the hance its credentials for when concessional began in April 2016, but Reed said the com-
HCabinda phosphate project over almost a rights were once again open for tender. pany would now be approaching project de-
decade before reluctantly walking away, Min- This included a series of greenhouse trials velopment from a slightly different angle.
bos Resources Ltd was the odds-on favourite – in conjunction with experts from the Interna- “We’re still going to try and move as rapidly
to reclaim the concession when the Angolan tional Fertiliser Development Centre – to de- as we can to production,” he said.
Ministry of Mineral Resources and Petroleum velop a desirable fertiliser product for Angolan “The resource was put together around an
announced the coveted licence was open agriculture and the broader Congo Basin. export project, but the requirements for a re-
for tender. One of the key findings of that work was source for an export project are a lot more de-
Minbos chief executive Lindsay Reed was that the Cabinda project was capable of sup- manding because you have to have a much
not so confident, however. plying all of Angola’s phosphate nutrient re- better understanding of the deleterious ele-
Speaking candidly to Paydirt last month quirements. ments – aluminum, iron, cadmium and others
after Minbos emerged successful from the “At one stage during the last decade, An- – that are in the phosphate rock.
tender, Reed revealed there were times gola was importing almost 90% of its food, “For this product, they’re largely immate-
during the bidding process where he felt his which given that it’s probably got some of the rial. The cadmium was always very low any-
company’s past history with the project was more fertile and more amenable land for ag- way and the presence of aluminum and iron
anything but an advantage. riculture, was not something that they were makes very little difference. So, it will be a
“While we weren’t the manager, we were happy about,” Reed said. lot easier to take the deposit through the re-
part of a JV which became dysfunctional and “This was partly caused by the oil boom source and reserve categories and move it
wasn’t able to progress the project,” Reed which made everything in Angola very, very forward.
said. expensive and made it difficult for local pro- “If you look at the rate at which they [An-
“I think Angola showed quite a lot of pa- ducers to compete. Now that their currency gola] are currently consuming phosphate
tience and tolerance with the lack of progress is a lot weaker and oil prices are a lot lower, I nutrients, if all of that came from this current
that was made on the project. It would have think it’s probably going to be easier for local deposit, it would still be a very small mining
been a very difficult decision for the Govern- producers, not just in agriculture but in a lot operation.”
ment to go ahead with us. of areas, to compete with imported products. With its long-term future seemingly locked
“While I thought we had a very, very good “We noted that, but I guess we also fell into in Angola, Minbos must now decide whether
proposal, I also understood that we were part it by luck given the fact we found this way of to continue exploring for rare earths in Mad-
of a history that wasn’t very good, so it wasn’t making a phosphate product that appears agascar where efforts to date have returned
a certain thing at all and I think Angola is to very suited to the majority of their agricultural mixed results.
be commended for putting it out to tender and applications.” Reed said a report compiled by CSA
the way it went about this whole process.” Minbos will spend the next few months de- Global Pty Ltd on all work completed over
Following a prolonged but ultimately un- vising new work programmes for the project, the Ambato rare earths project to date was
successful attempt to merge with its then-JV including timetables, scope, offtake, approv- “not as positive as we hoped, but probably
partner Petril Phosphates Ltd, the Minbos als and funding arrangements. A fresh mining as positive as we expected”.
board made the painstaking decision to walk investment contract with the Angolan Gov- “We’re talking with the JV partner there
away from what Reed described as “the most ernment will also be negotiated. and we’re looking at our options,” he said.
interesting project of my career” in late 2017. A resource of 27mt @ 17.7% P2O5 has “The board of Minbos will need to consider
However, Reed and his team never gave been defined for the main Cacata deposit, the way it views Madagascar in view of the
up hope of one day winning back the licence including a “scrub and screen” measured and certainty of now having a project in Angola.”
in its entirety and quietly began chipping away indicated resource of 13.1mt @ 26% P2O5. – Michael Washbourne
on a number of off-site programmes to en- BFS work for an export-based operation

Page 48 aPRIL 2020 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT