Two junior phosphate companies stand to gain on critical minerals

First Phosphate (CSE: PHOS) is riding the momentum of several positive announcements related to the Bégin-Lamarche phosphate project in Quebec, Canada. The government in Canada has shown tremendous support for the company’s phosphate development project, including CAD$4.84 million in new federal funding for infrastructure planning. The funding was given through the Natural Resources Canada’s First (NRCan) and Last Mile Fund (FLMF) and comes on top of an additional CAD$16.7 million in funding from NRCan in March 2026.

This allows First Phosphate to roll out scenarios for the infrastructure development planning, notably for site selection and the identification of connection corridors, a feasibility study, and the design of a 161-kV transmission line and substations in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region. All of the recent developments will contribute to the construction of the necessary links between road, rail and port infrastructure.

Bifox is currently a private company positioning itself to become an important supplier of phosphate rock in Latin America. The Australian-based company has agreed to purchase the Bayovar 9 Phosphate Project in Peru through an acquisition deal with Fossal S.A.A. The terms of deal are for Bifox to pay US$10 million for 16.667% of shares of Fosfatos del Pacífico S.A. (Fospac), with the remaining 83.333% of Fospac’s outstanding shares at US$50 million. In total, the company will acquire the Bayovar 9 Phosphate Project in Peru for US$60 million. Bifox is focused on phosphate fertilizer markets in both Latin America and North America.

Bifox will have access to ports in Peru that will allow the company to export to virtually any global market. Bifox’s strategy is focused on the advancement and development of its phosphate project portfolio across Peru and Chile through a disciplined and staged development approach. The Bayovar 9 is a globally significant phosphate rock development project located in the Bayovar region of Peru. This is in the same phosphate mining jurisdiction as The Mosaic Company’s phosphate rock mine. The project has a significant NI 43-101 compliant resource base of 546 million tonnes, including 108 million tonnes of reserves and 438 million tonnes of resources. Testing has demonstrated the ability to upgrade the ore to approximately 30% P2O5 suitable for export-quality phosphate.

Bifox intends to go public on the New York Stock Exchange, with a final investment decision (FID) by mid-2027 and first phosphate rock production in 2030. It will be an open pit mine design with planned production stages of 2.5-5 million tons per year.

The Brazilian and Indian phosphate market trends reveal that phosphate fertilizers are still in a crisis mode going into the second half of 2026. DAP imports to India have fallen hard year-over year, even while Saudi Arabian phosphate fertilizer supplies still dominate the Indian market, regardless of the Strait of Hormuz blockade. Saudi Arabian phosphate fertilizer supplies still dominate the Indian market, regardless of the Strait of Hormuz blockade.

However, with the precarious situation in the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea happening simultaneously, this puts Saudi Arabian exports at major disadvantage compared with other potential suppliers. Saudi phosphate exports will be more desperate to stay in the Indian market, while the rest of the world market seeks to diversify phosphate supply chains from both a raw material and finished fertilizer product perspective.

Click here to read more about the junior phosphate mining sector in this edition of the Growth Minerals Review