Brazil's Galvani unveils details of US$65mn phosphate mining expansion

Officials of Brazil’s Bahia state and industrial group Galvani unveiled new details of the firm's phosphate mining expansion project. 

The company is expected to invest 340mn reais (US$66.5mn) in the project in Irecê municipality.

"The start of operations is scheduled for the end of 2025, with an estimated useful life of 15 years, where [underlying] mining rights are held by [state mineral exploration company] CBPM, which is responsible for developing phosphate rock production in Irecê," the Bahia government said in a statement.

"When effective production begins, Galvani will be able to provide around 25% of the phosphate fertilizers needed for agricultural use in the northeast and north regions of the country, reducing dependence on imports of this input," it added. 

"In addition to forecasting annual production of 1.2Mt of ore, resulting in 350,000t of phosphate concentrate, annual production of 600,000t of agricultural limestone is also expected, which will boost the agricultural sector."

The project will generate 800 direct and indirect jobs during the operations phase and 1,000 jobs during construction, while contributing an additional 13.3mn reais in annual taxes to the state, according to the release.