PM Transcripts

FOR PRESS
66/ 41 DEVELOPiVIENT OF CHRISTiASISLAND PHOSPHATE DEPOSITS
( Statement by the Minister for Territories,
The Hon. C. E. Barnes, 1VIP.)
A development programme designed to raise the output
of phosphate on Christmas Island from its present level of
780,000 tons a year to 1.6-K tons a year by 1968 had been
approved by the Australian and New Zealand Governments, the
Minister for Territories, Mr C. E. Barnes said today.
A study of the possibility of raising annual
production to more than 2.5M tons would continue, he said.
Mr Barnes said that the Bureau of IMineral Resources,
in collaboration with the Christmas Island Phosphate Commission,
was carrying out a survey at Christmas Island to re-assess its
reserves of phosphate. Although the survey was not complete a
preliminary estimate was that the remaining reserves of all
, grades of phosphate were at least 2001d tons. This was substantially
greater than earlier estimates of reserves.
The development works already approved would involve
extraction of lower grade deposits of phosphate in addition to
the present high grade deposits.
The cost of the approved development would be
approximately i
The lower grade deposits had previously been regarded
as unsuitable for superphosphate manufacture but recent technological
and other experiments had shown -that some of these
deposits of low phosphatic content could betreated to make
them suitable for agricultural use.
An increase in the annual production rate of Christmas
Island phosphate would substantially benefit the Australian
fertiliser industry and would make Australia less dependent on
supplies from such overseas sources as Florida, Senegal and
Togo land. Mkr Barnes said that the deposits at Christmas Island,
which was a Commonwealth territory, were worked by the British
Phosphate Commissioners as agents for the Charistmas Island
Phosphate Commission. This Cormaission had been established
: Ln 1949 by agreement between Australia and New Zealand to
work the deposits for the equal benefit of the two countries.
CANBERRA, A. C. T.
19th July, 1966.