Lara Exploration increases its stake in Peru phosphate project

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Canadian fertilizer developer Lara Exploration announced it has completed the expenditures required to increase its ownership interest in the Mantaro Phosphate project in Peru from 33% to 70%.

As previously announced, the company had committed to investing $500,000 by the end of 2025 to gain the additional project stake.

Toronto-based Lara Exploration said as part of its operational strategy it has established a new subsidiary, Fosfatos Alli Allpa, who has an objective of advancing further exploration, technical studies and eventual development.

Named for its significance in the local Quechua language as “good soil” phosphates, Fosfatos Alli Allpa aims to produce and concentrate phosphate rock to meet the growing demand for natural fertilizers.

The concentration of its market will initially be within the Junin region of central Peru, where the project is located, as well as across the rest of Peru, but the company does envision eventually undertaking exports.

Lara is working under a Research Collaboration Agreement with the Peruvian National Institute of Agrarian Innovation (INIA) with ongoing studies with there being selected test plots fertilized with crushed phosphate rock.

The goal is to demonstrate potential improvements in crop yields through the application of locally sourced phosphates.

Lara Exploration said the Mantaro project hosts thick and extensive layers of sedimentary phosphate with previous exploration having identified phosphate mineralization that is suitable for surface extraction, beneficiation and production of phosphate rock concentrates.

The company has noted that the project also benefits from its strategic location near the national highway and the major rail line connecting Huancayo with Lima and the port of Callao, as well as the newly completed port of Chancay.