Industry Update - Australia joins global commitment to ESG for critical minerals

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13 December 2022

Australia has joined an international grouping to commit to sustainability and the highest environmental, social and governance standards for the mining and processing of critical minerals, which are essential components for low-emissions technologies.

Australia has signed on to the Sustainable Critical Minerals Alliance, which is an initiative led by Canada to promote sustainable, environmentally and socially responsible mining practices for the critical minerals sector. Other signatories will include Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the United States.

Australia has abundant reserves of critical minerals, including rare earths, which are essential inputs to clean technologies such as solar panels, wind turbines, and electric vehicle batteries.

Minister for Resources and Northern Australia Madeleine King said mining and processing of critical minerals are crucial to help the world lower emissions, and it was important those minerals are developed to high ESG standards.

“Australia is strongly committed to sustainability and the highest environmental and social governance standards, and we believe the development of new low-emissions technologies provides a great opportunity to promote those ESG standards across the world,” Minister King said.

“Australia congratulates Canada for taking the initiative, and we are proud to become a foundation member of the Sustainable Critical Minerals Alliance.”

Members of the group commit to voluntarily working to develop and use critical minerals that:

  • Employ a nature forward approach by collaborating with industry on practices that prevent biodiversity loss, protect species at risk and support nature protection, including driving towards net-positive benefits to the natural environment;

  • Support local and Indigenous communities by promoting safe working conditions and responsible labour standards, diverse and inclusive workforces, supporting Indigenous and local community benefits, and respecting the rights of local and Indigenous peoples;

  • Help fight climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and working towards achieving net-zero emissions by no later than 2050 by promoting net-zero mining practices;

  • Restore ecosystems by adopting requirements for reclamation and remediation to close and return mine sites to their natural state, and holding responsible parties accountable for environmental harm; and

  • Build a circular economy by accelerating the reuse and recycling of critical minerals, which may reduce the number of new mines to supply the minerals needed.

The Sustainable Critical Minerals Alliance was launched on the sidelines of the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in Montréal on 12 December 2022.

Media Coverage: Daily Company News - Chatham Looks Forward To An Eventful 2023

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Chatham Rock Phosphate Limited (TSXV: “NZP” and NZX: “Chatham”, “CRP”, or the “Company”) is, having advanced on multiple fronts, planning an eventful 2023.

The start of Korella phosphate production and the development of the Australian domestic market are the prime objectives for the Company in 2023.

Meanwhile the administrative process for the granting of a Mining Concession on Makatea is expected to continue throughout 2023.

Mining at Korella North

We’re aiming to start on-site operations at the Korella North Mine in Q4 2023. In tandem, marketing into the Australian domestic market will commence with first sales of our high-quality direct application soft rock phosphate to sugar cane and banana growers in Queensland.

Korella Fertilizer’s Cloncurry Distribution Hub will supply road trains with bagged product for growers on the Queensland Coast and bulk loads using side-tipping road trains.

Read the rest of the article on dailycompanynews.com

Industry Queensland interviews CRP executive director Colin Randall

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Chatham Rock Phosphate has brought Golding Contractors onboard as it works to bring its Korella North rock phosphate mine online.

The contract will see Golding provide mining services to facilitate the granting of a mining lease at Korella North and statutory services in the exploration of Korella South.

Chatham, through its Australian company Korella Fertilisers, is advancing the Korella North, Korella Central and Korella South phosphate projects adjacent to the major Phosphate Hill mining operation in North-West Queensland.

"Our basic principle is to appoint major contractors who can help us bring our projects to fruition," Korella Fertilisers executive director Colin Randall said. "(This means) a mining contractor who can not only help with providing statutory persons in our exploration but can also help us prepare the mining plans. They have all the support facilities and supporting staff that would be extremely difficult to recruit ourselves under the current circumstances."

Mr Randall said Golding was among most experienced phosphate mining contractors in Australia, having operated the Phosphate Hill mine - where they recently renewed a contract for the next five years. He said the company would be making an announcement on a transport/logistics contractor for the Korella projects in the near future and a crushing contractor further down the track. In addition to the mine sites, Korella Fertilisers aims to establish a distribution hub and a monocalcium phosphate (MCP) manufacturing plant in Cloncurry to service its rural customer base.

The company is also working on plans for a 2Mtpa bulk phosphate rail loading facility at Korella North and a bulk loading facility at Port of Townsville. This supports its longer-term aims for a bulk phosphate distribution and export operation. Korella North phosphate would initially be transported to Cloncurry for distribution to domestic customers. The soft rock phosphate (about 13-14 per cent phosphorus) can be directly applied to improve acidic soils, with a market in sugar cane and banana cultivation, for example. "Not only is it high in phosphorus, it's low in cadmium and also has good available silica. So those are the other parameters that will make it attractive," Mr Randall said.

The initial mining contract is expected to cover production of 100,000 tonnes of phosphate rock in the first year and 250,000tpa in subsequent years. Mr Randall said a backlog in the applications system meant Chatham wasn't expecting to receive its exploration approval for Korella North until mid-2023. But he expected this would be quickly converted to a mining lease and first production should meet the fertiliser buying period of April/May 2024.