TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Brazil-focused DuSolo Fertilizers on Tuesday announced that it had received the final mining permit required to start mining and processing high-grade phosphate, discovered at the Santiago target of its Bomfim project, into direct application natural fertiliser (DANF).

The company explained that the plant nutrient was in high demand among farmers and agricultural centres close to the Bomfim project.

The permit was the last of a series of permits and licences the company had to obtain in order to start producing DANF.

"We now have all the elements in place to deliver on our goal of becoming a phosphate producer in arguably the world's hottest fertiliser market. Our processing facility is operational and permitted, we are fully funded and we have received all the necessary licences.

“The company is, therefore, well positioned to start DANF production effective immediately," president and CEO Eran Friedlander said.

Located in the heart of the massive Cerrado agricultural area of Brazil, there was a critical demand for locally sourced fertilisers – be it potash or phosphates – in the country, highlighting the significant opportunity DuSolo and other development companies such as Verde Potash and MBAC Fertilizer were seizing.

DuSolo also planned to use a series of crushers, screens and mills to process a small portion of the high-grade phosphate discovered at the Santiago target into three DANF products of different phosphate grades  – 12%, 15%, 18% phosphorus pentoxide.

Unlike other phosphate-based fertiliser products, DANF processing is simple and apart from screen separation (a process that relies on physical attributes) does not entail flotation and/or further beneficiation. DANF is used alongside the standard and more costly nitrogen/phosphate/potash blend to compensate for elevated nutrient depletion as a result of heavy tropical rainfalls.

Farmers in the region have become accustomed to using DANF on their crops over the past several years but, owing to recent restrictions in supply, were no longer able to source it locally.

DuSolo intended to fill the current void in this rapidly expanding marketplace by providing farmers with a local alternative supply.