By Alex Emery - Wednesday, January 6, 2016 Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Canada's Focus Ventures said it completed a prefeasibility study for its Bayóvar 12 phosphate project in Peru's Piura region, one of a slew of deposits on the north coast seeking to tap into market demand for the natural fertilizer.
The study, completed by M3 Engineering and Golder Associates, envisages up to 1Mt/y of reactive phosphate production with a total 18.5Mt over the 20-year mine life of the US$127mn project, with operating costs running at US$75.68/t, the Vancouver-based company said in a statement.
The 125km2 property, which lies near Vale's Bayóvar mine and projects being developed by Cementos Pacasmayo and Americas Petrogas in the northern Sechura desert, has proven and probable reserves for 54.7Mt of 12.99% phosphorous pentoxide.
The mine, which will require a power line, a reverse osmosis water treatment plant, tailings pads and a seawater pipeline, will send production by truck to a port facility 43km away, Focus said. The company added it plans to advance the project to the feasibility stage while seeking to optimize the mine plan and equipment purchases.
Focus, which drilled 20 holes in a first-stage drill program, is looking to start production of direct application phosphate rock by 2017, company president David Cass told BNamericas in an interview last year. Focus is part of the Gold Group, an alliance that includes Canadian miners Fortuna Silver Mines, Radius Gold, Medgold Resources and Rackla Metals
Vale has been producing about 4Mt/y of phosphates at the neighboring Bayóvar mine since 2010.
