While China has dominated the expansion of phosphates fertiliser production over the last decade, its neighbour to the south, Vietnam, has also emerged as a major producer in the region.
The South East Asian nation has nearly doubled production of the phosphorus-bearing mineral apatite to about 1.1m. tpa in 2008 from around 2.1m. tpa in 2005.
Apatite expansions are continuing, driven by the North Nhac Son project of the Lao Cai mine near the northern border of the country.
The Lao Cai deposit is connected by rail, 290km from the country’s capital Hanoi and 400km from northern Vietnam’s major port, Haiphong.
The apatite basin extends along the upper Red River (Song Hong) for about 100km and is almost 3km wide, with the main formation occurring in the central part of the deposit.
The principle ore body’s thickness varies from...