Key points
- Chatham Rock Phosphate Ltd. will commission a research project with a local university to separate rare earths and other byproducts from its rock phosphate sea floor matrix.
- The plan was outlined in the company’s Sept. 1 update.
- No additional mining cost would be involved because the sands would already be brought to the vessel by the company’s proposed recovery process.
- The company has not named the specific rare earth elements found in its sampling program because recovery of any of them is not yet certain.
Chatham Rock Phosphate Ltd. is about to commission a research project to be undertaken by a local university.
As advised in the company’s Sept. 1 update, the research will be aimed at separating valuable byproducts (including rare earths) that are also contained within the sandy sea floor matrix that contains the rock phosphate deposit. As the company’s proposed recovery process would already bring these sands up to the vessel, there would be no mining cost involved, merely the costs of separating these byproducts from the sand before it is returned to the sea floor. Successful recovery of even a tiny proportion of these byproducts could add significantly to the company’s future revenue and profitability prospects and also establish a strategic ocean-floor-based asset for New Zealand.
As there is no certainty that any of these rare earths can be recovered, it is not yet appropriate to name the actual elements that the company has determined are present on the sea floor in its sampling program.
