Focus Ventures (FCV.V) has entered into an agreement with Italmatch Chemicals to jointly study the possibility to build and operate a P4 production facility near the Bayovar project in Peru’s Sechura region.
Back in the day, P4 was used to make matches, but its use has now been expanded to flame retardants and as Italmatch is the leading manufacturer of Phosphorus Pentasulphide, it’s always looking for new sources of phosphate (which is just one of the ‘ingredients’ of P4, together with silica and metallurgical coke). The study will be focusing on the availability of these materials (as well as the potential the secure a sufficient amount of grid power), and this could ultimately lead to the potential construction of a P4 plant to produce 20,000 tonnes of P4 per year.
We are uncertain how much P2O5 would be needed for every tonne of P4, but a total output of 20,000-40,000 tonnes of P4 per year very likely won’t need hundreds of thousands of tonnes of P2O5, so this P4 scenario appears to be a secondary route to market the product as the application to use P2O5 as a fertilizer will remain the primary business plan.
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The author has a long position in Focus Ventures. Please read the disclaimer
