Diamond Fields International Ltd. has been granted a marine exploration licence for phosphate and associated minerals by the government of the Republic of South Africa. The exploration licence is valid for a period of five years in the first instance, and extends over an area of approximately 47,468 square kilometres within the Outeniqua basin in the southwestern Cape. The licence was awarded following an extensive environmental management plan compiled by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, and public consultation with interested and affected parties.
Phosphate-rich rocks (average 16.2 per cent to 17.8 per cent phosphorus pentoxide) occur over extensive portions of the shelves off the west and south coasts of southern Africa. These occurrences have been studied in the past in detail through a joint research programme conducted by the Geological Survey of South Africa and the marine geoscience unit at the University of Cape Town. In the southwestern Cape, phosphatic rocks form a near-continuous outcrop which mantles the continental shelf between the 80-metre and 500-metre isobaths, and covering an area of approximately 21,500 by 106 square metres.
The deposit is located on international shipping lanes between the major markets of South America and Asia, and benefits from excellent infrastructure. Diamond Fields intends to fast-track the project through to the production of a high-quality rock phosphate product, subject to determination of a current resource estimate and economic feasibility.
“We see a lot of growth potential in the rock phosphate market,” said Ian Ransome, DFI’s chief executive officer. “We believe this deposit has the potential to yield a low-cost, high-quality rock phosphate product for the fertilizer and related industries. The potential of the resource in the southwestern Cape is tremendous and the offshore nature of the deposit dovetails perfectly into Diamond Fields’ extensive experience in marine mining in this part of the world.”
The geological and technical information in this press release has been compiled and reviewed by Ian Ransome, BSc (honours) geology, PriSciNat. Mr. Ransome is the CEO of Diamond Fields, and is a registered geological scientist with the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions (SACNASP), and is thus a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators.
