Chatham Rock Phosphate Ltd. aims to be the premier supplier of direct application low cadmium phosphate to the global agricultural sector.
The company is passionate about the benefit of direct application fertilizer to sustainable farming and agricultural practices.
With the company’s current low cadmium projects in New Zealand and French Polynesia and now prospective phosphate mines in Australia and Canada the company is growing its capability to meet the global demand originating from organic and regenerative farmers.
In particular, the company’s Makatea project in French Polynesia looks to meet the demands of farmers in Metropolitan France for low cadmium phosphate.
And Chatham is delighted to announce that the company has just been admitted to membership of Safer Phosphates.
The Safer Phosphates coalition whose members are Arianne Phosphate (Canada), Foskor (South Africa), Kazphosphate (Kazakhstan), Kropz (Southern Africa), PhosAgro (Russia) and Tradient (Egypt) will now be joined by CRP (New Zealand and French Polynesia).
Safer Phosphates is an informal coalition of committed international companies willing to contribute to EU (European Union) policy and regulatory debates around fertilizers which seeks to increase the awareness about the presence of contaminants in fertilizing products and, indirectly, the company’s food, stressing the availability of low-contaminated products both in Europe and globally. The ultimate objective of the coalition is promoting a sustainable agriculture and better food in Europe through enhanced competition on the European market of low-contaminated fertilizers.
The presence of heavy metals in soil is a major threat to the human food chain.
According to the World Health Organization, almost 200,000 people die every year from chemical poisoning, including heavy metals. Most of these could be prevented with protective measures and effective regulation.
Dietary intake of cadmium and other heavy metals remains an area of concern, which is why regulation has been proposed in Europe to limit contamination of soils.
The mission of Safer Phosphates is to share knowledge and address concerns about heavy metals that are present in some phosphate-based fertilizers. This encompasses improved understanding of the potential risks and promotion of solutions that optimize fertilizer choice, in order to support food security and sustainable agriculture.
As a prospective operator of several low cadmium phosphate mining operations CRP looks forward to working with the other members of the Safer Phosphates coalition in this critical food safety initiative.
