WELLINGTON, New Zealand,
March 23, 2018 /CNW/ - Chatham Rock
Phosphate Limited (TSXV: "NZP" and NZAX: "CRP" or the
"Company") wishes to advise shareholders of a significant
development overseas that should have a very positive indirect
impact on Chatham.
Today Nasdaq-listed Odyssey Marine, that holds 53.9% of the Don
Diego offshore Mexico marine
phosphate project, filed a release with the United States
Securities and Exchange Commission. The release stated that on
March 21, 2018, the Superior Court of
the Federal Court of Administrative Justice in Mexico had ruled unanimously in favour of
Odyssey Marine, thereby nullifying the earlier denial of the
environmental permit application for the extraction of phosphate
sand from its "Don Diego" project. This means that Don Diego is now
fully permitted.
This is very significant news for both Odyssey Marine and
Chatham, not only because it establishes a precedent for the
consenting of marine phosphate mining.
Chatham has a number of links to the Don Diego project,
including a number of Chatham's USA-based shareholders who have also invested
in both Odyssey Marine and directly in the Don Diego project
itself. We also have one director in common.
Chatham has conducted agricultural tests of the Don Diego rock
phosphate in New Zealand which
show the Mexican rock phosphate is both relatively high-grade in
its natural form (i.e. without being beneficiated) and is also a
very effective reactive phosphate rock.
This environmental approval will likely have a rub-off effect on
the perceived value of all marine phosphate deposits, including our
Chatham Rise deposit (already partly
permitted) and our expanding exploration portfolio offshore
Namibia
Odyssey Marine shares today rose from $US3.80 to a peak of $US13.75 on the Nasdaq, before closing at
$US8.30 with more than 2.2 million
shares traded.
Chatham Rock Phosphate President and CEO Chris Castle commented today that "this is the
best news for Chatham since we were granted our mining permit back
in December 2013 as it establishes a
precedent for marine phosphate mining after extensive and detailed
environmental assessment."
The Don Diego approval also follows the granting of an
environmental consent to Trans Tasman Resources in New Zealand territorial waters last year and
evidences the reality that marine mining, if managed carefully and
responsibly, can be carried out with minimal impacts on the marine
environment.
About Chatham Rock Phosphate
Chatham Rock Phosphate is the custodian of New Zealand's only material resource of
ultra-low cadmium, environmentally friendly pastoral phosphate
fertiliser. Our key role is connecting the resource with those who
need it.
Using this phosphate will support sustainable farming practices,
including healthier soil profiles and reduced accumulation of the
heavy metal cadmium, reducing carbon emissions and dramatically
lowering runoff to waterways and shrinking fertiliser needs over
time.
The resource represents one of New
Zealand's most valuable mineral assets and is of huge
strategic significance because phosphate is essential to maintain
New Zealand's high agricultural
productivity.
New Zealand's current access to
phosphate is vulnerable to economic and political events in the six
countries controlling 98% of the world's phosphate reserves, with
85% of the total in the Western Saharan state of Morocco.
Chatham takes very seriously the responsibility vested in it
through its mining permit to use the world's best knowledge and
technology to safely extract this resource to help sustainably feed
the world.
Our initial environmental consenting process independently
established extraction would have no significant impact on fishing
yields or profitability, marine mammals or seabirds.
Neither the Exchange, its Regulation Service Provider (as
that term is defined under the policies of the Exchange), or NZX
Limited has in any way passed upon the merits of the Transaction
and associated transactions, and has neither approved nor
disapproved of the contents of this press release.
SOURCE Chatham Rock Phosphate