Name of the Project
Elandsfontein phosphate project.

Location
Saldanha Bay, in the Western Cape, South Africa.

Project Owner/s
The Elandsfontein project is held by Kropz (70%), African Rainbow Capital, or ARC (25%), and a smaller empowerment partnership (5%). Ubuntu Botho Investments forms part of the ARC structure.

Project Description
The Elandsfontein deposit is the biggest sedimentary phosphate deposit in South Africa.

The phosphate mineralisation is contained in the Varswater formation, with the phosphate occurring in phosphatised shell fragments and phosphorite pellets. The remainder of the deposit consists of silica sand and calcium oxide.

The project has an initial mine life of about 14 years and can deliver one-million tonnes a year of phosphate rock concentrate at steady state.

The processing plant will produce a final saleable concentrate to the expected specification of 68% bone phosphate of lime and about 31% phosphorus oxide using a flotation configuration of direct flotation, followed by a reverse flotation circuit.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated. 

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
Kropz has spent $120-million to bring its Elandsfontein phosphates mining and processing project into production and requires an additional $16-million to cover its augmentation.

Planned Start/End Date
While the Elandsfontein project was first scheduled to start producing phosphate in 2018, it reported first production of phosphate rock concentrate only on March 18, 2022.

The project has been plagued by various delays since October 2017, when its water-use licence was contested by an environmental protection group, in addition to other challenges such as changes to its processing plans and Covid-19-related delays.

Latest Developments
Kropz has reported in its full-year results, published on July 31, 2023, that delays continue in commissioning the ramp-up of Elandsfontein operations at the mine, which may lead to more funding shortfalls.  

The company had to re-engineer parts of the fine flotation circuit, as proposed by the vendor, as well as implement design changes to the processing plant following the presence of banks of hard material in the orebody that were previously unknown.

Kropz also had to undertake additional operator training and bring new equipment on site to mitigate mechanical breaking, which it confirms has been effective, but alternative methods are nonetheless being considered.

The company has undertaken an infill drilling programme to determine and quantify the extent of the hard material on the future mine plan.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
DRA (engineering, procurement and construction management); Minopex (processing plant operation); and VDM Transport.

Contact Details for Project Information
Kropz, tel +27 21 930 0927 or email info@kropz.com.