Canadian Arianne Phosphate has selected FLSmidth as key supplier for one of the world’s biggest greenfield phosphate rock projects, the Lac à Paul project in Quebec’s Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region. Arianne Phosphate, a Canadian development-stage phosphate mining company, has signed a memorandum of understanding with FLSmidth to provide all production equipment and engineering for their future plant, Lac à Paul, located 650km north-east of Montreal, covering an area of more than 270 km2.
The phosphate processing plant will be designed for a capacity of 55,000 t/d, to produce 3 Mt/y of phosphate rock concentrate, grading 38.6% P2O5, with concentrate P2O5 recovery of 90%. Brian Ostroff, the CEO of Arianne Phosphate states: “The process of bringing Lac a Paul into development will benefit greatly from FLSmidth’s technological leadership, solid experience in the phosphate industry, and their ability to help facilitate financing. Greenfield projects like this requires significant financial backing from several financial partners. With the support of Denmark’s Export Credit Agency (EKF) FLSmidth has been able to open the door to the finance community by ensuring the most sustainable technologies with a focus on crucial water and energy resources.”
Group Executive Vice President for FLSmidth’s Minerals Division, Manfred Schaffer is equally excited about being on the project, adding “As a full flowsheet provider on a project of this scale, we can really make a difference by designing a process flow with optimal productivity and the lowest total cost of ownership.”
“Over the last few months, Arianne has been focusing its actions on bringing together industry leaders and experts to successfully undertake the Lac-à-Paul project, “ said Jean-Sébastien David, Arianne’s COO. “These partnerships help to improve and optimise the project as a whole. The signing of this agreement with FLSmidth, a recognized global leader that provides products and services to the global mining industry, brings us another step toward its realisation.”
Ostroff adds: “This is not just Arianne alone anymore and, when taken in conjunction with other recent announcements that have involved major global players, one can see the interest by many in getting this project done. Rio Tinto, Hydro Quebec, Constructions Proco, ABB, SNC Lavalin, Cegertec and now FLSmidth have all signed agreements and momentum is clearly in place. Lastly, with the assistance of some of these groups to help us source workable financing solutions, the questions around our financing strategy have gone a long way towards being answered.”
