The cattle industry's multi-million-dollar reliance on imported phosphorus could be about to change, with a Queensland company planning to begin mining the essential mineral.
Does outback Qld hold the key?has the cattle industry in its sights.
Chatham Rock Phosphate is in the final stages of acquiring a phosphate mine near Cloncurry and has multi-million-dollar plans to build an MCP processing plant on site. "Right now MCP is a fully imported product, with around 30,000 tonnes a year imported into Australia of which 75 per cent comes from China," executive director Colin Randall said.Cattle enjoying lick blocks in the Northern Territory.
Mr Randall said the production of MCP required phosphate, limestone and sulphuric acid, which were all available in the region."We've sent samples to Belgium for testing and the recent results are encouraging us to take the next step and do some pilot studies." He said if all went to plan, the processing plant could be operational by 2025 and capable of producing 30,000 tonnes of MCP per year.Watch this story on ABC TV's Landline at 12:30pm on Sunday, or on
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