Emerging African phosphate producer and developer Kropz has announced the second drawdown of R47-million on its R121.5-million bridge loan facility to meet immediate cash requirements resulting from continued delays in the ramp-up of operations at the Kropz Elandsfontein phosphate project, in the Western Cape.
Kropz noted that progress continues to be made in the ramp-up.
The company entered into the loan facility with its major shareholder African Rainbow Capital (ARC) Fund and made the first drawdown of R60-million on August 9.
Kropz and ARC Fund said they were working on a comprehensive funding structure to finance any further funding requirements for the project.
Kropz bought the Elandsfontein property in 2010 and soon developed an openpit mining operation and on-site processing facility with a production capacity of one-million tonnes a year.
About $160-million has been invested in project development, mine processing plant, and construction of associated infrastructure.
Rock phosphate from the openpit mine is stockpiled before passing to the milling and classification circuit in the processing plant, where it is prepared for flotation. Concentrate and tailings streams are thickened and filtered, with the concentrate then dried and stored for dispatch to port.
Steady-state production was expected to have been achieved this year.