FROM MINING NEWS.
Charlotte Dudley
Tuesday, 27 May 2008
PHOSPHATE'S comeback continues with yet another company – this time nickel play Heron Resources – getting in on the fertiliser ingredient act.
Fertiliser demand has boomed in recent months, boosting phosphate and potash demand.
Perth-based Heron said grab sampling results, taken from an exposed phosphate nodule horizon at the Langey Crossing area south of Derby, have indicated phosphate levels of between 21.5-23.4%.
Heron managing director Mathew Longworth said while the results were only early stage indicators and not necessarily representative of actual mineralisation, there was potential to upgrade further to around 30% phosphate through beneficiation techniques.
Phosphate supplies the booming commercial fertiliser market, and prices for the bulk commodity have been on the up in recent months.
Even BHP strengthened its hold on fertiliser sources with its swoop on Canada’s Anglo Potash earlier this month.
Longworth stressed that the company’s phosphate development was in its infancy – Heron is awaiting the outcome of its application on exploration licences within the Langey Crossing area – but said things were “going in the right direction”.
With its Yerilla and Kalgoorlie Nickel projects in Western Australia’s Goldfields region, Heron remains nickel focused but was keeping a keen eye on the potential for phosphate.
“A number of those sort of industrial minerals and commodities have languished for some time,” Longworth told MiningNews.net.
“But with the demand coming out of China – in particular for phosphate fertilisers etc – we’ve seen the price of phosphate and also sulphuric acid, one of the other key components, climb pretty dramatically over the last six months.
“We think on the phosphate side that’s probably going to hold fairly steady, whereas we can see some new supply coming in on the sulphuric acid or the sulphur side of things.”
If Heron’s exploration licence is granted, Longworth said the company would pursue work approvals to commence initial drilling and costeaning.
Heron shares gained 5c or 9.7% to reach an intra-day high of 56.5c before slipping back to 55c.
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