Elandsfontein

Elandsfontein hosts South Africa’s second-largest phosphate deposit. It is well understood and importantly, has low cadmium and other heavy metal content often found in sedimentary phosphate deposits, which allows the production of fertilisers that support food security and sustainable agriculture.

Elandsfontein’s rock phosphate can be economically upgraded for production by fertiliser manufacturers of:

phosphoric acid;
single super phosphate (SSP)
monoammonium phosphate (MAP); and
diammonium phosphate (DAP).

Kropz purchased the Elandsfontein property on the west coast of South Africa’s Western Cape province in 2010 and rapidly developed an open-pit mining operation and on-site processing facility with a production capacity of 1Mtpa on site.

After the required feasibility studies, metallurgical and environmental test work, and an exhaustive permitting process, the project is fully compliant with South Africa’s rigorously monitored legislative requirements.

This flagship project has access to reliable infrastructural utilities such as power and water, and available port capacity through the Port of Saldanha, less than 50km away by major roads.

US$160 million has been invested in project development, mine, processing plant and construction of associated infrastructure. Rock phosphate from the open pit mine will be 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. The concentrate is then dried and stored for dispatch to port.

Elandsfontein is on track for commissioning towards the end of 2021, generating near-term cash flow with steady state production expected during 2022.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

Why Elandsfontein?

Large, well-understood resource with low cadmium and heavy metals
Fully permitted
Near-term commissioning and cash flow

Taking the environment seriously

Through smart mine design, rehabilitation of the open pit mine will take place concurrently with mining. Mining is simple, cost effective and efficient, as a result of the sandy nature of the ore.

Given Elandsfontein’s phosphate deposit position below the natural water table and its proximity to the Langebaan Lagoon, water management is a critical focus area. The Langebaan Lagoon is a significant wetland in terms of Unesco’s Ramsar Convention.

In a world first, Elandsfontein extracts groundwater, directs it around the open pit in a closed system, and reinjects it back below the water table, thus protecting the local ground water resources and the Langebaan Lagoon. The network is managed through real-time systems, and an extensive ground water monitoring scheme which ensures that the integrity of the ground water resource is maintained.

The project’s expert environmental team and its workings are overseen by the Board of Directors’ Audit, Risk and Sustainability sub-committee.