Bifox Ltd has entered into two agreements with Fossal S.A.A., to purchase all the shares of Fosfatos del Pacífico S.A. (Fospac).
Under the agreements, Bifox has paid US$10 million cash for 16.667% of the outstanding shares of Fospac and has acquired a call option to purchase the remaining 83.333% of the outstanding shares for US$50 million. The acquisition of the remaining stake in Fospac is intended following completion of the planned pre-IPO capital raise, subject to customary closing conditions. All documentation associated with the acquisition is complete.
Fospac is the owner of the mining rights to the 550 million t Bayovar 9 phosphate rock project in northern Peru. Fossal is a member of the Hochschild Group, a precious metals mining company, headquartered in Lima, Peru.
The acquisition of the 550 million t Bayovar 9 phosphate rock project represents a significant milestone in Bifox's strategy to be a leading supplier of phosphate rock to the growing Latin American, US, and Asian markets.
Tim Koster, Bifox CEO, said: "The acquisition of Bayovar 9 will position Bifox as a top tier supplier of phosphate rock to the growing US, Latin American, and Asian markets. Our portfolio of assets in Latin America allows us to supply high quality phosphate rock to fertilizer, industrial, and battery customers in these markets.”
“The global phosphate rock market is expected be in a supply shortfall over the medium term as supply is forecast to decline in a number of key producing areas whilst global demand is increasing driven by increased global fertilizer usage in food production and LFP battery manufacturing. Phosphate has been designated a 'critical mineral' by the US, Europe, UK, Japan, Canada, and South Korea reflecting this supply demand position.”
“Our intention with Bayovar 9 is to build initially a 2.5 million tpy phosphate rock project to supply into this shortfall. The 550 million t Bayovar 9 resource in northern Peru is strategically located close to key markets, 15 km from port infrastructure, in a pro-mining jurisdiction and away from Middle East conflict zones. A 2.5 million tpy project will position Bifox as the third largest non-government owned phosphate rock supplier globally. The scale of the Bayovar 9 resource provides the opportunity to expand production to 5 million tpy at a later stage.”
“The acquisition of Bayovar 9 completes a three-year Latin American phosphate resource footprint expansion strategy. This resource base positions Bifox to develop future downstream agribusiness fertilizer products, LFP battery supply chain and strategic offtake partnerships."
Bayovar 9 Project highlights
- A Technical Report National Instrument (NI) 43-101 standard has been completed by Golder Associates Inc. Based on this report the estimated sedimentary resource is as follows:
- Measured phosphate rock resource of 209.3 million t.
- Indicated phosphate rock resource of 183.6 million t.
- Inferred phosphate rock resource of 153.3 million t.
- A total of 228 diamond drill core holes totalling 20 379 m were completed between 2008 and 2012.
- A detailed bankable feasibility study for the Bayovar 9 project was completed in 2015 by Worley Parsons providing expert independent analysis on mine design, metallurgical testing, processing techniques and cost analysis. The design, metallurgical, and processing aspects of the report remain valid and have been benchmarked against current technology to optimise the project.
- Metallurgical testing has indicated the ability to process the phosphate rock to export quality of ~30% P2O5.
- The project received environmental approval from the Peruvian government in 2016. This approval expired and Bifox reapplied for the necessary environmental approval.
- Bifox expects to develop the project to produce between 2.5 - 5 million tpy of phosphate rock.
- The project has access to port, power and road infrastructure.
- Royalty arrangements contracted with government and local community.
- No indigenous claims over the tenement area.
- The Bayovar mine is intended to be developed as open pit mine, with an expected mine life of 20 - 30 years.
Bifox's other projects
- The Selaqueos project is a sedimentary phosphate rock production plant (60 000 tpy capacity) located in Bahia Inglesa, in the Atacama region of Chile. The project is ready to produce phosphate rock at 20% plus P2O5 content for use as a direct application fertilizer.
- The Chanaral project is an exploration and development project located in the Chanaral region of Chile, close to port and transport infrastructure. The project is currently an underground mine and Bifox intends to undertake an exploration programme to further prove up the resource. The mine contains an igneous phosphate ore body able to be upgraded to 30% P2O5 content, making it suitable for both the Chilean and export markets.
The company also holds other earlier stage phosphate tenements (the Bahia Salada projects) in Chile that may be developed in the future subject to further mining studies.