Chatham Rock Phosphate

Chatham Rock Phosphate Limited is engaged in development and exploitation of the Chatham Rise rock phosphate deposit offshore New Zealand. The license area of 4,726 square kilometers is 450 kilometers east of Christchurch, at shallow depths on the Chatham Rise and in New Zealand territory. Its work has focused on compiling and consolidating existing information and data pertaining to the Chatham Rise phosphate deposit and related marine environment, as well as acquiring additional data to fill in any information gaps. Activities in its work program includes the detailed bathymetric surveying; sub-bottom profiling; sound velocity measurements; vibrocoring; box coring; cone penetration testing; sampling for the study of benthic fauna; sampling for beneficiation studies; sampling to assess phosphate deposit and geochemical characteristics, and sampling to assess the dredging parameters of the nodule hosting layer.