Herzliya, Israel — Israel’s privately owned LR Group is looking to invest $1 billion in a phosphate mine and fertilizer project in Angola. LR said the investment is through its wholly-owned Angolan subsidiary, Vale Fertil Lda. LR officials said the twostage plan calls for developing deposits in Zaire province in northern Angola, approximately 30 kilometers from the town of Nzeto and 300 kilometers north of the capital Luanda. Ehud Levy, project manager, said that 115 million mt of reserves have already been discovered in the 408 square kilometer concession area, and LR hopes to reach the 150 million mt level in ongoing testing. The first stage of the development plan calls for investing $60-$70 million in a plan for upgrading 300,000 mt/y of phosphate and the production of about 500,000 mt/y of NPK fertilizers for the domestic market. Levy said this is the first-ever fertilizer project in Angola. While the target is for production to begin in mid-2014, LR hopes to advance the timetable. The second – and far more ambitious – stage involves a $950 million investment in a 400,000 mt/y phosphoric acid plant, to be used to produce 850,000 mt/y of DAP. Levy said the DAP production will be earmarked for export and targeted for the Latin American market, specifically Brazil and Argentina. The investment includes $300 million in a port facility at Mucula for importing sulfur and possibly ammonia for use in the production process. The timetable calls for production to commence in 2017. Levy cites a number of advantages of the project, including the proximity to the market, low mining and production costs, and easy accessibility to local natural gas for the second stage of the project. “We are studying the financing model and are also considering strategic investors for the project,” said Yuval Omer, Vale Fertil’s director for the phosphate project. Vale Fertil was established by LR in 1991, and has substantial investments in Angola’s construction, telecommunications, and natural resources sectors.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain