The approval of the $800 million phosphate mine in the outback of Queensland will put pressure on housing in the area. The phosphate mining lease approved by the state government will allow Legend international Holdings to operate two of its mineral reserves in the north of Mount Isa. The operation will have a life of 60 years and will create 1,300 jobs as per the project manager, Ed Walker.
Mr Walker said that the project would also put pressure on the local housing market. He said that there will be need to get additional housing on to the market to address the affordability issue and also increase the stock of available housing in the area.
He added that the Urban Land Development Authority was aware of the project and was factoring it into their development plans for the region. The company is also looking at innovative ways to power the phosphate mining project being the foundation users on the copper string project.
Mr Walker said that the copper string line would be coming over from Townsville. The company was also working with a number of other mining companies in the region with the copper string organization. Being located on a gas pipeline has the potential of generating electricity on site.
The end product, phosphate will be sold domestically as fertilizer. Major markets exist both in Australia and India. Australia currently imports about 700,000 tonnes of compound fertilizer.