Chatham Rock Phosphate Limited announced that the Mining Lease Application for the Korella North Mine was lodged with Queensland Department of Resources on November 28, 2023. The Korella North Mining Lease Application has been designated ML 100379. The Mining Lease Application (MLA) is for 10 years and covers 118.56 ha within the 6 square kilometre Korella North Exploration Area EPM28589 (under application).

Contained within the Korella North MLA area is the 3ha mine footprint that contains some 395,000 tonnes of the Monastery Creek Phosphate Member. This 22m thick phosphate seam is outcropping along a length of 1.5 km with 2.7 million tonnes of resources identified from current exploration in a recently announced NI 43-101 independent report. Efficient low-cost open pit operations with selective mining of the individual plies in this deposit is planned to provide Direct Shipping Phosphate for sale to the domestic market, with export markets showing interest.

Confirmation drilling within EPM28589 and specifically the MLA is planned to take place after the end of the wet season in February/March 2024. The grant of the Mining Lease is expected in August 2024.