something big is coming, page-4

Pitfalls waiting for potash, phosphate.

Robin Bromby From: The Australian December 15, 2010 10:19AM

FOOD is so much on the mind at Christmas - but don't forget about minerals it needs.
Yes, fertiliser stands to be one of the key markets in 2011 and 2012 - and that means potash and phosphate.

Pure Speculation has been bullish about those minerals, and continues to be so. But that doesn't mean the road ahead is free of speed bumps. There's always the danger of a bubble; many projects won�t prove to be as good as they're hyped; and there are always the known and unknown unknowns in any market.

And our general bullishness also does not mean we won't air counter opinions.

We ran out of space in the Monday print edition so the item on phosphate was rather truncated. However, the publication yesterday of the latest World Agronomy Report from ABN AMRO and Virtual Metals allows a chance to make amends. "Among farming inputs, fertiliser will command the most attention in 2011," the report says.

China is about to emerge as a net importer of urea and diammonium phosphate (DAP) as it curbs its exports of those products in order meet domestic needs. New production capacity, especially in Morocco from 2013, will help dampen down prices for DAP in the long term but, more immediately, prices should climb in 2011. Present US farm-gate prices for DAP of $US606 a short tonne could jump as high as $US800 by this time next year.

"We expect fertiliser prices will rise by between 15 and 20 per cent during 2011" and will be set for further advances the following year," says the report.

That, of course, will not be much help to the bulk of the Australian companies, as production for most is still a long way off. But the long term picture must be positive: with declining areas of arable land around the world, fast growing populations in the developing countries, and demand for better quality food from the new middle classes of Asia, fertiliser is the key to making surviving arable land produce even more per hectare.

So, apart from the companies we mentioned on Monday, we saw an announcement from Superior Resources reporting that drilling had intersected a thick horizon of moderate grade phosphate at its Wills project near Dajarra, the town that was once one of the world's great railway stations for loading cattle for coastal markets. Seventeen of the drill holes returned assays of between 1.7 per cent and 18.3 per cent phosphate. No high grade phosphate was intersected. "The area is now considered to be adequately tested," the announcement said. The company now seems to be pinning its hopes on a new area it has under application.

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http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/pitfalls-waiting-for-potash-phosphate/story-e6frg9ex-1225971370622

so c'mon SPQ , make Dajarra happen.....again :)

Maybe this is what Bromby is refers to "the company now seems to be pinning its hopes on a new area"

15th Dec - Native title public notices page

http://svc115.wic512d.server-web.com/zone_files/Native_Title_PDF/EPM_18542.pdf

I saw that Superior have dropped a few months back almost all of their Wonomo Project ( north of Dajarra town ) area except that 1 block top right. Hmmm ? They didn't do any work up there for 2 years but kept that 1 block ? See my comments on Rum Jungle Resources (RUM) thread " RUM in Dajarra "
cheers