Quest strengthensGreat Quest strenghtens expert board for Mali phosphate project
Creating a body with the specific purposeof assisting in the commercial development of their phosphate projectwas a strong and committed move by Great Quest Metals (TSX: GQ) (Quest)when they set up the ‘Phosphate Advisory Committee’ earlier this month.The move was aimed at getting the most out of the company’s Malian TinHina Phosphate Project, making it commercially viable in the quickestand most efficient way. Quest have not been resting on their laurelssince the committee inception however, and just last week announced theyhave expanded the group further, with the addition of Mr Ehud Levy, aphosphates manufacturing industry consultant, who at the same time wasappointed to the board of directors.
All the signals remainclear; Quest are gathering some of the best scientists, agriculturalexperts and business developers in this sector, which should not onlybring the phosphate project to commercial success in a timely fashion,but will, as we touch on later, have the potential to significantly helpthe people of Mali in their agricultural production.
By way ofbackground, Great Quest Metals is a Canadian based resource companyfocused on the exploration and development of mineral concessions inMali and Canada. The company has a market capitalisation of C$37.6million, with zero debt, C$46,500 in cash and a working capital of C$5.1million. The company’s key assets are three significant gold projectsin Mali, more recently a phosphate project also in Mali, and acopper-gold-molybdenum project in British Columbia, Canada.
Ashighlighted, earlier this month Quest established the Phosphate AdvisoryCommittee to assist with the commercial development of its Tin HinaPhosphate Project in Eastern Mali. Initially Dr Lamine Traoré of theRural Economy Institute of Mali joined the committee, along with companydirectors Mamadou Keita, Jed Richardson and Victor Jones. This mostrecent addition of Mr Ehud Levy brings a further business developmentaspect to the committee.
Quest highlight Mr Levy formed hisinternational consulting firm following a thirty year career in Israelwith Bateman Engineering, the international project engineering companyserving the mining industry, and Rotem, a component of ICL, one of theworld’s largest fertilizer and specialty chemical companies. Mostrecently, at Bateman-Litwin, Mr Levy was Managing Director of theChemical Technologies Division directing project initiation and newprocesses for sophisticated applications of phosphates. At Rotem, thePhosphate division of ICL, Mr Levy was Manager of Research andDevelopment, responsible for fertilizers, phosphoric acid and newbusiness development including project control of new plant design andcommissioning, along with market analysis for advanced phosphateproducts. Naturally the Board of Quest see these experiences and skillsas a natural fit for the development of the Tin Hina Project, withQuest’s Chairman Victor Jones saying “Mr Levy brings considerable seniorexecutive expertise on the commercial development of phosphate depositsand products to this key project and we are very pleased to expand theteam and complement the exploration strengths of the company”.
Thecompany’s phosphate concessions cover some 737 square kilometres of theTilemsi valley in Eastern Mali, for its occurrences of naturalphosphate, around 85 kilometres northeast of Bourem on the Niger river.This follows a move in June by Quest, where they entered into anagreement with a private Malian company to acquire a 97% interest in the320 square kilometres Tarkint Est concession in eastern Mali, which isto the north of, and contiguous with, the company's 88% held Tin Hinaconcession. In 2009, 26 grab samples were taken at Tin Hina, taken over alength of 6,870 metres along 3 sides of the Alfatchafa hill from a 0.4to 1.7 metre thick bed of phosphate rock. The results form this samplingcame in positive, averaging 24.5% phosphorus oxide.
In the newTarkint Est concession, the phosphate occurs mainly in hills in the areawhich have been eroded away in the vicinity of valleys. Of the threeknown zones, the Chanamaguel phosphate occurrence is receiving the mostinterest, with the maximum thickness of the phosphate layer reported tobe one metre. Two samples taken at the site in the late 1950s showed25.4% phosphorus oxide over 1 metre, and 29.1% phosphorus oxide over0.95 metres. Four samples were taken from the Tagit N’Ouerane zone,north of the Chanamaguel, in 1979, and showed assays ranging from 10.65%phosphorus oxide to 20.99% phosphorus oxide, showing an averageconcentration of 16.96% phosphorus oxide. The samples also showed thethickness of the layer ranged from 0.10 to 0.80 metres.
Questhave said that these various findings at both the Tin Hina and TarkintEst concessions support a decision to continue exploration forcommercial sources of natural phosphate for the Mali market. As wetouched on earlier, the use of phosphate as a fertiliser has a lot ofpotential to benefit the Mali agricultural industry and farmers. Knownas le Phosphate Naturel de Tilemsi (PNT), from the region of Mali wherethe Tin Hina and Tarkint Est concessions are located, this phosphatematerial, when mined, pulverized and applied to Malian soil, has beenshown to significantly increase the yield of various agricultural crops.Phosphate plays a key role in vigorous plant growth and is an integralcomponent of most fertilizers. The study of the optimal preparation andapplication of phosphate is a field of current research as concerns forsustainable agriculture grow.
By bringing on board a focused setof experts, both for the scientific and agricultural aspect of thephosphate projects, but also the business development and commercialrealisation side of things, as the most recent appointment of Mr Levywill be doing, Quest have committed themselves to realising the fullpotential of their Mali phosphate prospects as quickly and economicallyas possible. Aimed at the Mali market itself, the potential forproduction not just to be a profitable commercial exercise for Quest,but also to benefit the people of Mali directly, leaves the company inan enviable position of being able to make money while improving thelives of citizens it already provides much philanthropic work for.