Ressources d’Arianne Inc., a Canada-based exploration company which mainly focuses on metals, has decided to now concentrate on its phosphate assets owing to the opportunities of the growing fertiliser market.
The company hopes to start production of phosphate and ilmenite within the next five years at its Lac a Paul deposit in Quebec, Canada (IM 25 March 2010: Arianne focuses on phosphate).
“At present, we are looking for a partnership. But if we make a deal this year, production could start by 2015,” Bernard Lapointe, Ressources d’Arianne’s chief executive officer, told IM.
Any development of the resource will also grab the attention of the titanium dioxide (TiO2) industry which is desperate for new feedstock sources. The Lac a Paul deposit, located near Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean in Quebec, has total resources of 338.5m. tonnes of phosphate and ilmenite (see below).
Geology & mineralogy