Name of the Project
Elandsfontein phosphate project.

Location
Saldanha Bay, in the Western Cape, South Africa.

Project Owner/s
The Elandsfontein project is held by Kropz (70%), African Rainbow Capital, or ARC (25%) and a smaller empowerment partnership (5%). Ubuntu Botho Investments forms part of the ARC structure.

Project Description
The Elandsfontein phosphate deposit is the largest sedimentary phosphate deposit in South Africa.

The phosphate mineralisation is contained in the Varswater formation, with the phosphate occurring in phosphatised shell fragments and phosphorite pellets. The remainder of the deposit consists of silica sand and calcium oxide.

The project has the capacity to deliver one-million-tonnes a year of phosphate rock concentrate at steady state, with an initial mine life of about 14 years.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated. 

All-in Sustaining Costs/All-in Costs
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
Kropz has spent $120-million to bring its Elandsfontein phosphates mining and processing project into production and requires an additional $16-million to cover its augmentation.

Planned Start/End Date
Kropz plans to start commercial production from Elandsfontein in the last quarter of 2021.

Latest Developments
Investment fund ARC has said that an alternative processing method for Kropz’s Elandsfontein project has been confirmed to produce saleable concentrate.

The advanced-stage phosphate mining project has faced several setbacks and delays, with operations postponed until additional laboratory and pilot plant testing could be undertaken, and funding procured.

ARC holds 49.3% of the issued shares in Kropz.

ARC co-CEO Dr Johan van Zyl has said that the orebody at Elandsfontein has been found to be more complex than initially anticipated with regard to particle size distribution and grade variability.

This means a modification to the original circuit is required to achieve the desired consistent phosphate grade.

About 14 months of additional testwork, however, has instilled confidence that the proposed modifications to the processing plant will produce the required final saleable concentrate at the desired yields.

“The processing plant will produce a final saleable concentrate to expected specification of 68% bone phosphate of lime, about 31% phosphorus oxide, using a flotation configuration of direct, followed by a reverse flotation circuit,” Van Zyl has said.

Commissioning of the mine and plant was initially scheduled for the end of 2017.

As a consequence of various delays, Kropz Elandsfontein is in technical default on its $30-million project finance facility from BNP Paribas (BNPP), with the company at an advanced stage of discussions to restructure this facility.

“The ARC fund has received investment committee approval to support Kropz Group funding requirements to bring Kropz Elandsfontein into production, subject to reaching agreement with BNPP.”

Key Contracts and Suppliers
DRA (engineering, procurement and construction management); Minopex (processing plant operation) and VDM Transport.

Contact Details for Project Information
Kropz, tel +27 21 930 0927 or email info@kropz.com.