Centrex Limited was first incorporated as Centrex Metals Limited on 23 March 2002 and listed on
the Australian Securities Exchange as Centrex Metals (ASX:CXM) in July 2006 where it raised capital
for the development of several iron ore projects in South Australia.
In July 2010 CXM signed two very significant joint venture agreements with Chinese steel companies.
Baotou Iron & Steel Group Company Limited (‘Baotou’) signed an agreement covering the Bungalow
tenement and Wuhan Iron & Steel (Group) Co signed an agreement covering 5 tenements in the
southeast of the Eyre Peninsula.
Around 2015, when Centrex anticipated an oversupply of iron ore and the inevitable deterioration of
the market, it began the process of diversification into other bulk commodities with Phosphate, one
of the three major fertilisers, being identified as a major market opportunity to drive shareholder
value and solve a significant, but largely overlooked, risk facing Australia’s vital agricultural sector.
Phosphate is critically important to the production of food crops and pasture for livestock. With
more and more people in the world to feed and increasingly less farmland available, greater reliance
is placed on fertiliser to maximise yields. World phosphate rock consumption has increased
exponentially over the last 100 years, growing roughly by 50% every decade on average.
Each year, Australia and New Zealand imports 1 million tonnes of phosphate rock mostly to produce
Single Superphosphate, an important fertiliser for a wide variety of pastures. More than half of
Australia and New Zealand’s imported phosphate comes from the world’s biggest exporter,
Morocco, which has been dogged by political disputes over the years, threatening the stability of
supply.
In June 2017 Centrex acquired one of the few remaining undeveloped high-grade phosphate sites in
the world from fertiliser major Incitec Pivot. The site, known as the Ardmore Phosphate Rock
Project and situated just south of Mt. Isa, offers the highest grade of Phosphate in Australia and has
since been to developed to establish Centrex as Australia’s leading phosphate miner.
Following several years of site development, Centrex, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Agriflex
Pty Ltd, established Australia’s newest export industry in late 2022 with several shipments of
beneficiated phosphate rock making their way to New Zealand.
As interest in Centrex’s phosphate and related products increased so did the need to grow its
executive team under the direction of CEO Robert Mencel who has assembled a highly experienced
team of managers and operators who know how to mine, process, ship and sell phosphate.
Most of the phosphate rock to be mined at Ardmore is for the commercial fertiliser production
industry and offtake agreements for 100% of production for the first three years of the project life
have already been signed. At the same time, the team at Agriflex is also working on numerous other
commercial opportunities to develop new related markets and income streams leveraging
Ardmore’s high-grade phosphate product.
Agriflex is also undertaking targeted phosphate rock exploration not only in Queensland but also the
North Territory to expand its phosphate resource base. It continues to progress its large scale
potassium feldspar project in Western Australia.
