Australian mining junior Minbos Resources Ltd. said it signed an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction Management (EPCM) contract on June 14 with Brazil’s Engenharia e Projetos de Infraestrutura Ltda. and its Angolan subsidiary, EPX Angola, for the construction of its Cabinda Phosphate Fertilizer plant in Subantando, in Cabinda, in western Angola.
The US$4.25 million EPCM contract, which Minbos signed through subsidiaries, formalizes the engagement between the parties that initially started with a Limited Notice to Proceed (LNTP) agreement inked in February last year (GM Feb. 18, 2022), the Australian company said in a June 16 ASX release.
“Since the LNTP was signed with EPC, the Cabinda Phosphate Fertilizer Plant has been redesigned resulting in savings of over US$10 million, and the relocation from Futila to Subantando will cut in half the trucking distance from the Cácata phosphate mine site,” Minbos said.
Work is already underway at the project site. The Minbos project comprises the mining of phosphate rock from the Cácata deposit, located approximately 60 km from Cabinda, and its transport to a planned granulation plant at Subantando to produce “enhanced phosphate rock” (EPR) granules.
The plan is for the EPR granules to become the P nutrient feed stock to blend with imported nitrogen and potash granules in NPK blending plants. Minbos is looking at an initial production capacity of 150,000 mt/y of EPR granules, with a target to increase to 450,000 mt/y, according to the company’s website.
The output will be marketed domestically as a substitute for fertilizers currently imported. Minbos estimates Angola’s current phosphate fertilizer demand at around 50,000 mt/y P2O5.
The company won an international award for the project in March 2020 (GM March 20, 2020). Minbos owns 85% of the project, while its in-country partner, Soul Rock Ltda., owns the remaining 15% interest.