Australia-based exploration and development company Minbos has completed the final Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) design for the Cabinda Phosphate Fertiliser plant in Angola.

The company said the plant would have an initial production capacity of 150,000 tonnes per annum, potentially expanding to 450,000 tonnes per annum. It claimed that based on current estimates, the plant could be commissioned in H1 2023.

Minbos said the US-based material handling equipment supplier FEECO International is finalising the fabrication of core plant components.

The company has also recently placed the final major equipment order for a chain mill after test work on the phosphate rock bulk samples were shipped to the US in late-2021.

Furthermore, Engineering Procurement Construction and Management (EPCM) work is advancing rapidly with detail, scheduling, planning and design work underway, it said.

Minbos chief executive officer Lindsay Reed said the Cabinda Phosphate Project was of national significance to Angola.

"Working in a COVID and supply chain constrained environment in the last year has been challenging for the Minbos team in Angola and Australia," Reed said.

"The Company is looking forward to delivering the DFS and Final Investment Decision in the coming months, as we prepare to get into production in the first half of 2023."