"Ardmore is one of the very few undeveloped high-grade phosphate rock projects in the world, and the deal provides Centrex an opportunity to fast-track development of an advanced asset into revenue generation, that will also support longer term development of its Oxley Potash Project. The Ardmore deposit has 302 historic drill holes completed over the outcropping deposit, with drill spacing down to 20 m by 20 m in some areas. The target phosphorite unit is shallow dipping, with the average depths from surface of the hanging wall and footwall contacts being 8.3 m and 12.0 m respectively based on drilling to date, indicating favourable shallow open-cut mining operations. From historical bulk sample excavations at the site down to 10 m using a D9 dozer, the mined material is expected to be “free-dig” without the need for drill and blast.
An Independent Exploration Target of 12.0 to 16.5 million tonne at a grade of 28.2% to 29.4 % P2O5 for Ardmore has been established for Centrex. Data verification will commence upon transfer of the Mining Lease to Centrex to convert the Exploration Target to a JORC Resource. This work will include a number of twin holes to confirm the original 1970s dataset, and further infill drilling as required."
"The Ardmore Phosphate Rock Project (“Ardmore”) is located 128 km south of the City of Mount Isa in North West Queensland. The deposit was drilled out in the 1970s at the same time as the discovery of the Duchess Phosphate Rock Mine (“Duchess Mine”), which provides feed to the adjacent Phosphate Hill ammonium phosphate fertiliser plant (owned by SCF). A Mining Lease for Ardmore was granted in 1975 and it has been held under common ownership with the Duchess Mine since that time. Ardmore represents a smaller high-grade satellite deposit to the main Duchess Mining operations and remains undeveloped. Centrex plans to develop a phosphate rock export operation at Ardmore to supply the nearby Asian and Australasian markets. With the bulk of the export market coming from North Africa and the Middle East, Ardmore will have a large freight advantage to these markets. Ardmore’s already high phosphate grade means processing costs will be lower than the majority of producers that require significant beneficiation to reach export grade levels. The deposit outcrops and is very shallow with the target phosphorite unit hanging wall and footwall average contact depths being 8.3 m and 12.0 m respectively based on drilling to date, indicating favourable shallow open-cut mining operations. From historical bulk sample excavations at the site down to 10m using a D9 dozer, the mined material is expected to be “free-dig” without the need for drill and blast. The Morocco 70% Bone Phosphate Lime (“BPL”) phosphate rock contract benchmark in October was $US 110/t free alongside (“FAS”), and is forecast to hold over the long-term (World Bank Commodities Price Forecast October 2016). Centrex plans to truck product from Ardmore 90 km to the Mount Isa-Townsville rail line and export from Townsville through existing port facilities. Centrex is well advanced in discussions with infrastructure owners including site visits. Upon transfer of the Mining Lease from SCF, Centrex will immediately commence further drilling, engineering feasibility and environmental studies. A targeted 2-year timeframe is set to gain environment approvals for mining and complete a feasibility study ready for raising project finance. The limited processing equipment required for the project is expected to be in the form of mobile/modular units, and given the outcropping deposit a mining pre-strip is not expected, meaning a relatively short execution timeframe"
CXM Price at posting:
6.9¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
