Chatham provides briefing notes to incoming Ministers

NEWS RELEASE 17‐36 December 6, 2017






CHATHAM ROCK PHOSPHATE PROVIDES BRIEFING
NOTES TO KEY INCOMING GOVERNMENT MINISTERS


WELLINGTON New Zealand – Chatham Rock Phosphate Limited (TSXV: “NZP” and
NZAX: “CRP” or the “Company") is pleased to announce that it recently provided
briefing notes to a number of incoming Ministers following the recent change of
Government in New Zealand.

Individual briefing notes were sent to the ten most relevant Ministers, including the
Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, as well as the Ministers of Energy and
Resources, Environment and Economic Development, Agriculture, Fisheries, Forestry,
Export Development, Conservation and Regional Development. It is pleasing that a
number of responses have been received already.

The notes provided a succinct summary of our project and particularly its net
environmental benefits and an example is included in this release to further reiterate
these messages to existing shareholders and stakeholders.

“Briefing to the Incoming Minister

Minister of Agriculture, Minister for Food Safety, Minister for Biosecurity,
Minister for Rural Communities

Summary

The Chatham rock phosphate project comprehensively ticks the boxes in terms of net
environmental benefits, security of supply of an essential farm input, project economics
and benefits to the NZ economy.

Introduction

Chatham Rock Phosphate Limited (CRP) is a Wellington based company that proposes
to dredge rock phosphate from a small part of the central Chatham Rise, about 450km
offshore Christchurch.

Although it has cornerstone investors overseas and is stock exchange listed in both
Canada and Frankfurt (as well as New Zealand) more than 50% of CRP is owned by over
1,300 New Zealanders.

Benefits for the Environment

Rock phosphate from the Chatham Rise has exceptional environmentally beneficial
attributes relating to its properties as a reactive rock phosphate and its unusually low
cadmium levels.

The directly beneficial environmental effects of using Chatham rock phosphate are
reduced run off, improved water quality, a healthier soil profile, reduced heavy metals
being applied to soils and much lower carbon emissions.

Ethical, Secure Supply

By recovering rock phosphate from the Chatham Rise NZ will have its own supply
without depending on imports from other countries, particularly Morocco, which is
mining rock from a disputed territory. Onshore phosphate mining also impacts on local
communities causing well documented health issues and social an
d environmental
distress.

Project Will Pay Taxes, Create Jobs and Knowledge

The project would result in significant tax revenue and port charges as well as create
many high‐value knowledge‐based jobs in the port, on the mining ship, undertaking
environmental monitoring and broader scientific research, in the agriculture and
hospitality sectors and on the Chatham Islands.

It could lead to NZ leadership in marine technology potentially worth billions as marine
mining becomes commonplace overseas.

By operating in the marine environment we will gain (and share) the knowledge to
better identify conservation priorities.
Project History
The deposit, located on the central Chatham Rise, was discovered by New Zealand
scientists in 1952 and extensively explored during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s by a
range of private and public sector scientists (DSIR, NZ Oceanographic Survey)

An estimated $70 million in current dollar terms was spent back then on at least seven
different voyages, each involving several weeks. The data collected means the deposit is
now very well defined.

CRP was granted a 20 year mining permit in December 2013.

The mining permit area is 450 km east of Christchurch, at a depth of around 400 metres
on the Chatham Rise and in New Zealand territory. Estimated reserves are 23.4 million
tonnes.

The current Exclusive Economic Zone environmental consenting regime came into force
in June 2013 and CRP’s initial application was among the first considered by the
Environmental Protection Authority. It was declined in 2015 and CRP is currently
planning to resubmit in early 2019.

We are planning for an operational start two years after receipt of a Marine Consent and
completing a mining contract (to include arrangements for a vessel to undertake the
mining).

CRP’s mining permit assumes an initial mine life of 15 years. We anticipate further
sampling during this initial mining phase will quantify the extent of additional mineable
reserves within the mining permit area.

How the Phosphate Will Be Recovered

A modified version of the trailing suction hopper dredger pictured above will separate a
30cm thick seafloor layer of phosphate nodules, together with the surrounding sand,
sieve the nodules from the sand on board the vessel, return the sand to the seafloor and
take the nodules to the operation’s home port. From there an estimated 29% of the
nodules will be processed and used in New Zealand and the balance exported to
neighbouring countries.
First Environmental Protection Authority Decision Recap
Main public concerns submitted

 Removal of seabed and associated biota
 Impacts of the sediment plume on the adjacent environment and deepwater
fisheries
 Interactions with marine mammals and seabirds
 Trophic impacts
 Mining inside a Benthic Protection Area (fishing bottom‐trawling prohibited)

But in the hearing independent/opposing experts agreed that:

 Marine mammals unlikely to be affected
 Sea birds unlikely to be affected
 Major fish stocks unlikely to be affected
 Primary food chain productivity unlikely to be affected
 Toxicology effects in water column will be very low

2015 Decision‐making Committee’s (DMC) summary

 Damage to the benthic environment
 Modest economic benefits compared to environmental effects
 Significant effect on Benthic Protection Area
 Proposed adaptive management wouldn’t address fundamental concerns

The Facts


 Damage to the benthic environment is not permanent and is limited to one tenth
of 1% of the Chatham Rise
 The economic benefits were required to be established before the mining permit
was granted by NZ Petroleum and Minerals in 2013. As well as being highly
profitable the project creates jobs in ports, agriculture, environmental
monitoring, and scientific research
 Environmental benefits include reduced carbon emissions, lower run‐off into
waterways and significantly lower levels of cadmium. These benefits were
ignored by the DMC.
 Only 5% of the Central Chatham Rise Benthic Protection Area would be affected
 The DMC failed to grasp how the proposed adaptive management regime would
operate.

Further Information

Much more detailed information can be supplied to back up this summary document
upon request.

All of this information is already in the public arena due to CRP’s continuous disclosure
obligations as a reporting issuer in New Zealand and other markets.

Chatham executives would also welcome the opportunity to brief the Minister in
person.

Chris Castle, CEO
November 16, 2017”


For further information please contact:


Chris Castle
President and Chief Executive Officer
Chatham Rock Phosphate Limited
64 21 55 81 85 or chris@crpl.co.nz


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associated transactions, and has neither approved nor disapproved of the contents of this press release.