In conversation with
Ian Harebottle
eyes the African West Coast
Africa hosts some of the biggest phosphate deposits in the world, Ian Harebottle, CEO of Kropz,
tells Leon Louw.
Kropz has acquired assets in other parts of Africa, in addition to
its current mine in South Africa. How important is it for Kropz to
diversify geographically, and what prompted the move into the
Republic of the Congo and Togo?
Ian Harebottle
CEO of Kropz
Kropz’s mission is to become a meaningful contributor to food security
in sub-Saharan Africa by becoming a leading producer of fertiliser
feed materials. Diversification into our focus area has always been part
of the strategy, however, this will always be managed in a structured
manner in line with the company’s overall performance, global demand
and the inherent value contained within any potential target sites.
Our current portfolio includes the Hinda project in Republic of
Congo, which is a very exciting development prospect – possibly
the largest undeveloped phosphate reserve in the world, and Aflao
in Ghana, which is an extension of the historically exploited and
high-grade HKK deposit in Togo.
How big is the global market for fertilisers, and what is the future
of mining this product in Africa?
The global market for fertilisers is directly linked to a growing
population and decrease in available arable land – driving the need
to improve crop yields. Sub-Saharan Africa has the fastest growing
population in the world, and one of the lowest agricultural yields,
primarily related to very low fertiliser consumption. For Africa
to feed itself and counter a continued increase in deforestation, it
needs greater access to fertiliser.
Are there other countries in Africa that host substantial deposits of
phosphates? Will Kropz be looking at these in the future?
There are is a number of substantial producers in North Africa, and
a few other phosphate deposits within sub-Saharan Africa. However,
these are often challenged by a lack of infrastructure and access to
markets. We will continue to keep our eye on these assets, as
well as other fertiliser feed mineral deposits.
What does the mining and processing of
fertiliser and specifically phosphates entail?
(can you please give me a short description
of the mining methods and processing
procedures).
Our assets are all sedimentary phosphates,
which means they were formed in
16 AFRICAN MINING JULY - AUGUST 2019
www.africanmining.co.za