New Zealand: Royal Boskalis Takes Part in CRP’s Undersea Mining Project

Business & Finance

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) will take a 20 percent shareholding in Chatham Rock Phosphate and assume a seat on the board, in a world-first for the undersea mining industry.

It is the first time a major dredging company has taken a substantial equity position in an undersea mining project.

Boskalis has been issued shares at an issue price of $0.22 to give it a 15% shareholding in CRP. Subject to shareholder approval, which is intended to be sought in early September, Boskalis will be issued additional shares to move to a 19.99% shareholding. The Board of CRP expects to appoint a nominee of Boskalis as a director of CRP in a few weeks time.

CRP holds a prospecting permit to develop an undersea rock phosphate resource, 400m below the surface, on the Chatham Rise east of New Zealand.

Peter Berdowski, CEO Boskalis, said CRP offers a unique opportunity for Boskalis to get involved in the fledgling deep-sea mining industry.

“This is a very interesting growth opportunity allowing us to draw on our wealth of expertise and to contribute this to the successful development of this unique project, together with our partner Chatham.”

CRP Managing Director Chris Castle said he was honoured Boskalis, the industry’s global leader, had chosen to support this innovative New Zealand project.

“Boskalis is a great partner and works very collegially with CRP, despite the difference in size and scope of the companies. It has amassed centuries of knowledge of the marine industry and can call on the best resources globally.”

The agreement allows for Boskalis to subscribe for up to 20 percent of CRP’s issued capital, and to appoint a nominee to the CRP board.

It follows meetings at the Boskalis headquarters in Papendrecht, the Netherlands, in late June to review the past year of activities since Boskalis was appointed as the project’s technical partner to design a process to extract phosphate nodules from the seabed.

The next stage of the project for the remainder of 2012 will involve Boskalis refining its system for recovering and separating the phosphate nodules, applying adapted and proven technologies. The key considerations include capital and operating costs and minimising possible environmental effects.

CRP holds an offshore prospecting permit covering an area of 4726 km2 on the central Chatham Rise. The permit area, in New Zealand territorial waters, is located 450 km east of Christchurch and includes significant shallow seabed deposits of rock phosphate. The initial term of the permit is two years with rights to either extend the prospecting permit or apply for a mining licence.

Establishment of a rock phosphate industry in New Zealand territorial waters has a significant number of economic, environmental and market benefits.

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. is a leading global services provider operating in the dredging, maritime infrastructure and maritime services sectors. Boskalis provides creative and innovative solutions to infrastructural challenges in the maritime, coastal and delta regions of the world including the construction and maintenance of ports and waterways, land reclamation, coastal defense and riverbank protection. It offers a wide variety of marine services through SMIT and has other strategic partnerships in the Middle East (Archirodon) and in offshore services (Lamnalco).

The company holds important home market positions in and outside of Europe. Boskalis has a versatile fleet of over 1,100 units and operates in over 75 countries across six continents. Including its share in partnerships, Boskalis has approximately 14,000 employees.

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Press Release, July 30, 2012