London-based Keras Resources plc, said on Feb. 12 its Diamond Creek organic phosphate project is moving forward with the recent receipt of a processing plant, which was fabricated and shipped from Shanghai in fourth-quarter 2020. The company said the plant is now on site in Utah and construction is underway.
Keras said the new owner-operated plant has design capacity to process the targeted 48,000 mt/y in 2024, and will increase both the installed capacity and flexibility to beneficiate a variety of organic phosphate products and will also see a significant reduction in operating costs as it moves away from the current toll agreements. Commissioning remains on schedule, and the plant is expected to be operational by the end of first-quarter 2021.
“Our expansion at Diamond Creek continues to progress as planned and the commissioning of the new crushing, milling and bagging facility, which will be capable of supporting our peak production rate of 48,000 tons per year, is a key component underpinning this strategy,” said Russell Lamming, Kera Resources CEO.
“We have a long life-of mine at Diamond Creek, with the opencast resources alone representing in excess of 60 years at the peak production rate, highlighting the long-term sustainable cash flow we anticipate being generated from this mine,” he continued. “We look forward to delivering further news regarding the commissioning of the processing plant and our 2021 production schedule in due course.”
Keras Resources acquired its majority stake in the project late year (GM Aug. 14, 2020), having acquired a 51 percent stake in Salt Lake City-based Falcon Isle Holdings.
Keras started commercial operations at the 840-acre mine site with a throughput of 5,000 mt/y on July 29. The company said the first beneficiated -10 mesh organic product, part of a 770 mt order, was dispatched in early September.
The Diamond Creek Mine is located in a region between Vernal, Utah, and Spanish Fork, Utah. The J.R. Simplot Co. operates a phosphate mine north of Vernal that supplies its Rock Springs, Wyo., fertilizer complex with phosphate ore via a slurry pipeline.