PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Fertoz is considering a number of growth options at its Wapiti phosphate project, in British Columbia, to increase output.

A May scoping study indicated that C$2.7-million would be required to develop Stage 1 of the project, which would access resources from a 7-m-deep openpit to deliver 361 000 t of phosphate during an initial seven-year mine life.

Stage 2 production would extend the project to 19 m below the surface, and would deliver an additional 600 000 t of phosphate, while Stage 3 would extend the openpit to 31 m below the surface and deliver 375 000 t of phosphate.

First production had been targeted for 2016, and the project was expected to ramp up to Stage 3 production of 75 000 t/y by 2018.

The project was expected to have a mine life of 20 years.

However, Fertoz told shareholders on Friday that the company was considering a number of options to extend the growth at the Wapiti project, including an extended reach excavator during Stage 1 of operations, which would reduce initial costs and extend Stage 1 mining from seven years to nine years.

Further exploration work was also expected to extend the mineable phosphate horizon, while project economics could be improved by ramping up to full production of 75 000 t/y in 2017, instead of 2018 as initially planned. This would require bringing forward the capital investment of C$2.5-million to 2015 and 2016.

“Fertoz has enough indicated resource for 13 years of project life and further exploration is planned, once the project is generating free cash, to confirm a 20-year project life can be achieved,” said Feroz MD Les Szonyi.

“The scoping study has been specifically designed to minimise upfront capital expenditure and achieve near term positive cash flow with a shallow, 7-m-deep openpit design for the initial seven years of the project. With fertiliser sales well under way through our FertAg joint venture in Australia, and the likelihood of near-term commercial production in North America, Fertoz continues to establish its credentials as an emerging agribusiness.”

Fertoz was expected to receive approval for its small mine application for Wapiti in 2015, which would allow the company to extract up to 75 000 t/y of phosphate rock.