The audited measured and indicated resource contains 166.2 million tonnes grading 29.1% P2O5, compared with the previous in-house estimate of 164.3 million tonnes grading 29.4% P2O5.
The deposit is hosted in an Eocene-aged sedimentary sequence that was deposited in a large basin which covered West Africa more than 50 million years ago. The flat-lying phosphate horizon extends over 37.7 sq. km and ranges in thickness from 1 to 6 metres, the average thickness being 3.5 metres. The deposit, which is covered by an average of 30 metres of weathered overburden, was enriched by the chemical weathering of phosphate-rich limestone — a process that boosted the average P2O5 content to almost 30% from 17%.
The outline of the resource is defined by the 1.5-metre-thick contour of the phosphate bed. The deposit increases in thickness toward the centre of the basin. Deleterious elements, such as cadmium, arsenic and magnesium, are said to be at low levels.
The northeastern portion of the resource, dubbed the East zone, contains a measured and indicated resource of 53.6 million tonnes grading 30.9% P2O5 with an average thickness of 4.22 metres. Tests will determine whether or not the high-grade East zone is suitable for open-pit mining. Champion has hired Johannesburg-based Mineral Corp. to calculate minable reserves.
Preliminary scoping studies estimate a projected cash operating cost of US$20 per tonne and a construction cost of US$112 million.
Phosphate is formed through the evaporation of phosphorous-rich brine contained in shallow saltwater basins. Subsequently, salts precipitate and are deposited on the sea floor, where they form an evaporite. More than 90% of all phosphate mined is used to produce fertilizer.
Phosphate was first noted in the Farim area in the 1950s, when it was intersected by geotechnical and oil-and-gas drill programs. A United Nations-sponsored program carried out some drilling in the 1970s, though most of the exploration work was performed in the early 1980s by the French government agencies Bureau de Recherches Gologiques et Minires (BRGM) and Sofremines. BRGM, in the process of drilling 102 holes (5,600 metres), identified a large near-surface phosphate resource, and Sofremines later defined reserves while conducting a prefeasibility study. However, the combination of poor market conditions and political instability forced the French to abandon the project.
Years later, in August 1997, Champion acquired the project from the government of Guinea-Bissau and carried out a 600-metre drill program that confirmed the grade and advantageous chemical makeup of the deposit. In addition, a stepout hole, 3 km west of the previously defined reserves, intersected 4.3 metres grading 30% P2O5 within what is dubbed the FPA horizon. Champion is of the opinion that the overall resource can be increased.
In 1998, a lender agreed to provide an US$84-million non-recourse project loan so that Champion can advance the phosphate project to production. The loan is subject to due diligence and the negotiation of acceptable off-take purchase contracts. Champion has since retained the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce to assist it in seeking purchasers for the phosphate and in negotiating off-take contracts.
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