Key points
- Chatham Rock Phosphate signed a lease over a 22-hectare site on Round Oak Road, Cloncurry, owned by logistics company Aurizon.
- The site will become the Korella phosphate distribution hub serving the Korella North mine.
- Under an MoU signed last year, Aurizon and Korella Fertilizers are planning a two-million-tonne-per-year rail loading facility at Korella North.
- The companies also plan a five-million-tonne-per-year bulk phosphate shiploading facility at the Port of Townsville.
Chatham Rock Phosphate Ltd. has signed a lease over a 22-hectare site to establish the Korella phosphate distribution hub in Cloncurry.
The Korella phosphate distribution hub matches the requirements for the Korella North mine with phosphate road trained to the hub for handling and onward shipment by road train for domestic sales and by rail for export through the Port of Townsville.
The 22-hectare site, owned by logistics company Aurizon, is on Round Oak Road, Cloncurry, accessible by road trains and close to the existing Aurizon Cloncurry container terminal.
As announced last year, a memorandum of understanding was signed between Aurizon and Chatham Rock’s wholly owned Australian subsidiary, Avenir Makatea Pty. Ltd., trading as Korella Fertilizers, to establish a framework for discussing logistical solutions and associated infrastructure investments, which Aurizon could provide to support Korella getting its product to market.
Under the MoU, Korella and Aurizon will participate in exclusive discussions for the full pit-to-port logistics solution, including road, rail and shiploading of phosphate rock from Korella North, Korella Central and Korella South (mines) near Phosphate Hill to Korella’s Round Oak Road distribution hub in Cloncurry and onward to the Port of Townsville. This would include provision by Aurizon of terminal and storage services at Korella North, Round Oak Road distribution hub Cloncurry, Cloncurry container terminals, and Stuart and Aurizon port service terminals at the Port of Townsville.
Under the MoU, this will also include current planning for a rail loading facility to be built at Korella North for bulk loading of two million tonnes per year of phosphate from Korella North, Korella Central and Korella South and the establishment of a five-million-tonne-per-year bulk phosphate shiploading facility in the Port of Townsville.
With Aurizon’s newly opened Aurizon port services facility in the Port of Townsville, the bulk shipments of Korella phosphate can commence.
Aurizon is the major transport and logistics provider to companies operating in Queensland’s North West mineral province with existing contracts that include:
Transport on rail of sulphuric acid in tankers from Mount Isa to Phosphate Hill; Transport on rail of sulphuric acid in tankers from Townsville to Phosphate Hill; Transport on rail of elemental sulphur in containers from Townsville to Mount Isa; Transport on rail of lead/zinc concentrate from Cloncurry container terminal to Townsville; Transport of cement from Townsville to Cloncurry container terminal; Transport of phosphate concentrate from near Dajarra (150 kilometres south of Mount Isa) to Mount Isa by road and then 1,000 kilometres by rail from Mount Isa to Townsville.
- Transport on rail of sulphuric acid in tankers from Mount Isa to Phosphate Hill;
- Transport on rail of sulphuric acid in tankers from Townsville to Phosphate Hill;
- Transport on rail of elemental sulphur in containers from Townsville to Mount Isa;
- Transport on rail of lead/zinc concentrate from Cloncurry container terminal to Townsville;
- Transport of cement from Townsville to Cloncurry container terminal;
- Transport of phosphate concentrate from near Dajarra (150 kilometres south of Mount Isa) to Mount Isa by road and then 1,000 kilometres by rail from Mount Isa to Townsville.
Chatham Rock looks forward to progressing Korella Fertilizers by matching mine development with efficient and flexible transport and logistic solutions.
About Korella Fertilizers
Korella Fertilizers, based in Cloncurry, northwest Queensland, is an operation for international phosphate company Chatham Rock.
With its Korella phosphate sourced south of Cloncurry at Phosphate Hill, Korella Fertilizers is establishing a distribution hub and an MCP manufacturing plant in Cloncurry to service its rural customer base, especially those in northern Australia.
In parallel, the company is working on plans for a two-million-tonne-per-year bulk phosphate rail loading facility at Korella North and Phosphate Hill and a five-million-tonne-per-year shiploader in the Port of Townsville.
