Key points
- Panama authorities detained a Moroccan OCP phosphate shipment from Western Sahara bound for Canada’s Agrium after a Polisario legal challenge.
- It is the second such shipment halted this month, following an earlier detention in South Africa.
- Chatham CEO Chris Castle said the episode underscores the need for New Zealand’s own low-cadmium phosphate source at Chatham Rise.
- Chatham proposes extracting up to 1.5 million tonnes a year of phosphate nodules from an 820-square-kilometre area of the Chatham Rise, 450 kilometres off New Zealand, and has raised more than $37 million for the project.
Chatham Rock Phosphate Ltd. has noted the halting of a second phosphate shipment from the western Sahara is intensifying the supply risk for New Zealand farmers.
Chatham chief executive officer Chris Castle said today that the need for New Zealand to secure its own low-cadmium and ethical phosphate resource is highlighted by news Panama authorities have detained Moroccan phosphate shipment from the western Sahara after the Polisario independence movement claimed the cargo had been transported illegally.
The detention of the vessel carrying phosphate rock cargo from Morocco’s OCP for Canada’s Agrium is the second tanker stopped this month by a Polisario legal challenge, a new tactic the independence movement has been using in its conflict with Morocco. The first shipment was detained in South Africa.
Western Sahara has been disputed since 1975, when Morocco claimed it as part of the kingdom, and the Polisario fought a guerrilla war for the Sahrawi people’s independence.
Both New Zealand fertilizer manufacturers source a large part of their phosphate rock supply from that area, so the implications for farmers and the economically important agriculture sector are serious.
Mr. Castle said the company’s Chatham Rise resource is not only an ethical source, but it also has among the lowest known levels of cadmium.
“New Zealand needs to use its own source of ethically produced, environmentally friendly phosphate rock rather than importing product from a disputed territory.
“Phosphate is essential for the production of food, and we can’t afford supply disruptions. This underlines the strategic value of our deposit.”
Mr. Castle said Chatham’s product is also better for the environment as it binds to the soil and dramatically reduces runoff to waterways.
He said the rock from Morocco is used to make New Zealand’s predominant fertilizer superphosphate, which results in high levels of runoff with resulting pollution to waterways and can also be detrimental to soil health over the long term.
“The solution to supply and environmental problems is the use of Chatham rock phosphate as an organic direct application fertilizer not processed with chemicals.
“We can deliver a secure and sustainable local supply of low-cadmium phosphate that will also reduce fertilizer runoff into waterways, produce healthier soils and shrink fertilizer needs over time,” Mr. Castle said.
The Chatham Rise resource represents one of New Zealand’s more valuable mineral assets and is of huge strategic significance because phosphate is essential to maintain high agricultural productivity.
Chatham proposes to extract up to 1.5 million tonnes a year of phosphate nodules from the top half metre of sand on identified parts of an 820-square-kilometre area on the Chatham Rise, 450 kilometres off the west coast of New Zealand, in waters of 400 metres.
“Our environmental consenting process has established and independently verified that extraction would have no material impact on fishing yields or profitability, marine mammals or seabirds.”
About Chatham Rock Phosphate
Ltd.
Chatham Rock Phosphate, a publicly listed company, was granted a mining permit in 2013 to develop New Zealand’s only significant source of environmentally friendly pastoral phosphate fertilizer and is now preparing for a revised environmental consent application.
Local and international investors have contributed more than $37-million to develop the project’s financial viability, environmental benefits and impacts, technical and logistical requirements, and local and international product uses.
In progressing plans to submit a new application, the company is working with government officials to seek improvement in the permitting process, with academic, industry and central government input to ensure New Zealand can benefit from an environmentally superior phosphate source.
