Canadian Fox River receives positive assessment, ready to advance phosphate project

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Canadian fertilizer developer Fox River Resources Corporation announced it has received a positive preliminary economic assessment (PEA) study for the Martison Phosphate project and with no current domestic production of finished phosphate products in Canada now is the time to advance the project.

The project located near Hearst, Ontario, is being designed to entail an open pit mine, a phosphate beneficiation plant, a slurry pipeline, a road corridor, and a Fertilizer Conversion Complex (FCC) which is near existing rail, power, and natural gas infrastructure.

This facility includes a phosphoric acid plant, a super phosphoric acid plant, a granulation plant, a sulphur conversion plant with co-generation capacity, a warehouse and loadout facility, and a railyard.

Fox River said based on the current indicated and inferred resources, Martison has a 26-year mine life with the potential for extension should additional resources be identified.

The PEA has examined the economics of producing 221,000 solution tonnes per year of super phosphoric acid (SPA), 474,000 tonnes of granular monoammonium phosphate (MAP) and 247,000 tonnes of granular nitrogen, phosphate, sulphur (NPS).

The target market includes the Eastern Canadian provinces, Canadian Prairie provinces and US northern states.

The company said the Martison facility will capture a freight advantage relative to US and offshore producers in its target market, and especially in nearby provinces where demand is projected to grow and where a larger share of output is forecast to ship over time.

Fox River added that Canadian demand is forecast to continue to grow at moderate but lower rates than the pace seen over the last 10 years.

“We have witnessed substantial movement within the fertilizer sector over the past ten years and believe the time is right to advance Martison, an igneous phosphate deposit that already meets the most stringent cadmium restrictions being implemented by the European Union,” said Stephen Case, Fox River Resources Corporation CEO.

“The Western Canadian phosphate market demand has doubled in the past decade and remains the fastest growing market in North America, a market which the Martison project is designed to serve. With no current domestic production of finished phosphate products in Canada and a competitive operating cost, Martison is uniquely positioned to capture these markets that are primarily served by producers in central Florida, Idaho and the Gulf Coast.”

Case said that given the increasing protectionism in the fertilizer sector it is crucial that Canada has a domestic source of phosphate fertilizers.

“As the world continues its current path of balkanization, the geopolitical risks globally are now starting to impact direct investment in regions where government regimes and taxation remain constant uncertainties. Operating in a global leading mining jurisdiction, such as Canada, may prove to be yet another distinct and positive advantage for the Martison project,” Case said.