Floated at 120p on June 08 raising 33.6m to fund the development of a fertiliser factory, has used $5.9m for adquisitions September 08 and said it still had $26.9m left at 30 June 09.

The company has a phosphorous rock deposit in Kazakhstan totalling 800 million tonnes capable of producing fertilisers for the next 56 years.
The deposit lies in a flat lying position on the Kazakh steppes close to surface so will be cheap to mine and the world still needs fertilisers.
Positive points
1. Shallow - 1 to 3m depth. Ultra low cost to extract.
2. Close to Tengiz oil field which has high sulphur content, hence cheap source of sulphuric acid.
3. Located at junction of two main railway lines giving direct access to Russia/China.

Sunkar is suppose to be one of the lowest cost producers in the World at sub $125 per DAP (die-ammonium phosphate) tonne. The average is circa $200 with some producers as high as $300.
The case for phosphate deposits is population growth means more agriculture means more fertiliser needed in the future.
RESUME SKR produce phosphate for DAP fertilizer and have licenses and acrage in Kurdistan to last 50-70yrs producing in excess of 100M tonnes of raw material each year. 160m shares in issue, directors own a significant chunk. Also they have a cheap source of sulphur required to produce the DAP

Phosphorus - its role and nature
Phosphorus (chemical symbol P) is an element necessary for life. Because phosphorus is highly reactive, it does not naturally occur
as a free element, but is instead bound up in phosphates. Phosphates typically occur in inorganic rocks.
As farmers and gardeners know, phosphorus is one of the three major nutrients required for plant growth: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K).
Fertilizers are labelled for the amount of N-P-K they contain.
Most phosphorus is obtained from mining phosphate rock. Crude phosphate is now used in organic farming, whereas chemically treated forms such
as superphosphate, triple superphosphate, or ammonium phosphates are used in non-organic farming.
The current major use of phosphate is in fertilizers. Growing crops remove it and other nutrients from the soil... Most of the world's farms do not have or
do not receive adequate amounts of phosphate. Feeding the world's increasing population will accelerate the rate of depletion of phosphate reserves.
and...
resources are limited, and phosphate is being dissipated. Future generations ultimately will face problems in obtaining enough to exist.
It is sobering to note that phosphorus is often a limiting nutrient in natural ecosystems. That is, the supply of available phosphorus limits the
size of the population possible in those ecosystems.

13 May 09 conference - fertilizers link about SKR ....minesite

Intraday
3 month Candlestick with volume

3 month Bollinger Bands,RSI, S Stochastic and 50 days MA

Charts - 2 days

Plus market trades Number of people who have visited this thread    

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201103280800066799D

Serik Utegen, Chief Executive Officer of Sunkar commented:

Sunkar Resources plc is pleased to present an update on its milling operations and report its first revenues from Direct Application Rock ("DAR" or "phosphate flour") sales.

Direct Application Rock Sales
The Company has completed its first commercial sale of DAR. The sale is to a Russian farming company and although a small quantity, the shipment marks another milestone in the progress of Sunkar as a developing phosphate fertilizer company.

Talks with agriculture buyers on further shipments are being carried out after new domestic fertilizer subsidy regulations were recently issued by the Kazakhstan Government.

Milling Operations
The Company officially started industrial scale production of DAR at its Milling and Loading Complex ("MLC") on March 15, 2011. Currently the MLC consist of two identical milling lines with a capacity of 20 tonnes per hour each. The two silos have a total storage capacity of 1,250 tonnes of phosphate flour. Up to 30 rail cars can be accommodated on the MLC's loading terminal which links, via the Company's recently completed rail spur, to the main state railroad.

To date more than 900 tonnes of beneficiated phosphate rock has been milled into DAR. Vertical shaft impact mills, of Russian manufacture, grind the rock which is then loaded into adjacent silos and can then be loaded in bulk into hopper railcars or can be sent to the bagging facility to be packed into bags which can then be loaded into closed top railcars or onto trucks.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201104200700102073F

Going places today since the volume of yesterday and again today

It looks like the bottom has been reached after the sharp movement up today on a strong order book.

SKR was the sector's biggest riser, though the "AT" was at bid price 22.75p


Sunkar Resources (SKR) Share Price
22.75p +3.00p ( +15.19 %)

UMC Energy (UEP) Share Price
3.88p+0.50p ( +14.81 %)

Anglesey Mining (AYM) Share Price
66.00p +3.00p ( +4.76 %)

Emerging Metals (EML) Share Price
2.90p +0.18p ( +6.42 %)

Goldplat (GDP) Share Price
11.50p +0.50p ( +4.55 %)

The main reason for rising seems to be well oversold on the Indicators, together with large trades ( buyers ) at the lower prices

Feeding the Worlds Hunger for Phosphorus

Phosphorous is not a metal, and in one of its elemental forms, yellow phosphorous, it is very reactive. Unless it is submerged in water or oil it spontaneously catches fire in air, even at or near room temperature. It was first prepared in the early modern age; its Greek-derived name, which means the bearer of fire, came about after it was observed glowing in the dark as it slowly burned.
Medieval alchemists had no theory of chemical elements; for example, they thought that metal was a property given to one of the Four Natural Elements of the ancients, the element earth.

Medieval alchemists did find that dissolving the vapor from burning phosphorous in water produced a powerful solution of what we now call acid (in this case phosphoric acid)that could corrode base metals and dissolve some types of stone. Nineteenth Century research showed that many natural solid materials were in fact phosphates created by the ancient reaction of chemical elements with phosphoric acids.

It is unlikely that anyone before the 19th Century would have imagined just how critically important natural deposits of phosphate rock would become to the health and survival of mankind.

In a nightmarish, yet disturbingly plausible, scenario: a nation finds its supply of an essential commodity to be depleted. Without this element, its citizenrys very lives are threatened. Suppliers of this commodity, aware of their influence, opt to band together as a cartel in order to control pricing and distribution of this essential commodity, leaving the rest of the world vulnerable to price and supply shocks.

While this may sound like the situation around oil, or perhaps even fresh water if some projections are to be believed, this same scenario could conceivably play out around an element without which large-scale, productive agricultural activity is all but impossible: phosphorus, the key ingredient in phosphate fertilizers. Just as those who profited most from the 19th Century California Gold Rush were those who supplied the essential tools for mining (picks, shovels, wheelbarrows, rolling stock, canvas and donkeys), so also are those who control the supply of crucial inputs for mass agriculture like phosphate very much poised to profit..............

Feeding the Worlds Hunger for Phosphorus

Commodity prices updated on site-

chart Fertilizer industry commodities prices

spread 22.50 / 24p

Opening higher, but it seems on a down day for the market, the share spread has been manipulated and keept large, despite some good buying

2 days chart

THIS WEEKS MISSIVE

It may not be the sexiest story of 2011. It may not even make the front page of The Wall Street Journal. But it'll make you a killing if Jack Lifton has anything to say about it. Lifton is the guy who sounded the rare earth supply alarm shortly before rare earths became one of the most respected and hottest sectors of 2010. But it's his next prediction that should scare the hell out of you. Because this supply-demand story affects something more valuable than green tech, computers, cell phone batteries, and military guidance missiles. It affects our food.

It's the supply-demand story of 2011 that many haven't even heard about. And it all has to do with fertilizer. Fertilizer is made up of three primary nutrients: nitrogen, potassium, and phosphate. Without these, crops will not produce as they should. And it's not the potassium or the nitrogen supply that's an issue; it's the phosphate supply that's the problem.

As Lifton points out, a large portion of the world's phosphate supply is sitting in unstable parts of the world, like Morocco (which accounts for more than a third of all phosphate exports after taking over the phosphate-rich desert in 1976), South Africa, and Jordan (which control 80% of the world's phosphate). China also poses a problem, imposing a super-tax for most DAP exports for the year. Much like potash, phosphate is added to the soil to boost yields. It's also commonly referred to as diamomoinum phosphate (DAP).

Unfortunately, there is no substitute for phosphate. All agricultural crops require phosphate for growth. And prices could still surge well above current levels.

Demand for fertilizer will continue to grow exponentially. In China and India, agricultural demand accounts for more than 40% of fertilizer. The emerging markets of Asia and Latin America account for two-thirds of fertilizer demand. And as populations in emerging economies increase food demand and purchasing power, countries will have to up farming yields, increasing the demand for fertilizer and phosphate as a result.

Food crises continue around the globe as yields diminish and population grows. Global economic and agricultural leaders project the world's population will surpass nine billion by 2050. Think about that. Food production would have to jump some 70% just to meet that demand.

DuPont now believes billions of dollars will be needed if global food production is to meet growing demand: People are starting to recognize that food demand is outstripping supply," says Executive Vice President Jim Borel. BHP Billiton understands the need for phosphate. The global resources company recently offered $39 billion for Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, which included an $11 billion valuation for the company's phosphate and nitrogen assets.

As Lifton explains:

Academics at Sydneys University of Technology believe peak phosphate could become a reality as soon as 2030. They also include Professor Stuart White, who suggests that the price of this indispensible soil nutrient could then skyrocket as supply is consequently eclipsed by demand.

In turn, such a shortage could pose a serious threat to global food supplies as much higher prices for crop staples become a stark reality.

If you're smart, you'll follow Lifton, just as we did when he warned of a rare earth shortfall. You see, there's a real boom that lies ahead for the fertilizer sector, thanks in large part to phosphate shortfalls. We have a way to play it. THIS WEEKS MISSIVE
It may not be the sexiest story of 2011. It may not even make the front page of The Wall Street Journal. But it'll make you a killing if Jack Lifton has anything to say about it. Lifton is the guy who sounded the rare earth supply alarm shortly before rare earths became one of the most respected and hottest sectors of 2010. But it's his next prediction that should scare the hell out of you. Because this supply-demand story affects something more valuable than green tech, computers, cell phone batteries, and military guidance missiles. It affects our food.

It's the supply-demand story of 2011 that many haven't even heard about. And it all has to do with fertilizer. Fertilizer is made up of three primary nutrients: nitrogen, potassium, and phosphate. Without these, crops will not produce as they should. And it's not the potassium or the nitrogen supply that's an issue; it's the phosphate supply that's the problem.

As Lifton points out, a large portion of the world's phosphate supply is sitting in unstable parts of the world, like Morocco (which accounts for more than a third of all phosphate exports after taking over the phosphate-rich desert in 1976), South Africa, and Jordan (which control 80% of the world's phosphate). China also poses a problem, imposing a super-tax for most DAP exports for the year. Much like potash, phosphate is added to the soil to boost yields. It's also commonly referred to as diamomoinum phosphate (DAP).

Unfortunately, there is no substitute for phosphate. All agricultural crops require phosphate for growth. And prices could still surge well above current levels.

Demand for fertilizer will continue to grow exponentially. In China and India, agricultural demand accounts for more than 40% of fertilizer. The emerging markets of Asia and Latin America account for two-thirds of fertilizer demand. And as populations in emerging economies increase food demand and purchasing power, countries will have to up farming yields, increasing the demand for fertilizer and phosphate as a result.

Food crises continue around the globe as yields diminish and population grows. Global economic and agricultural leaders project the world's population will surpass nine billion by 2050. Think about that. Food production would have to jump some 70% just to meet that demand.

DuPont now believes billions of dollars will be needed if global food production is to meet growing demand: People are starting to recognize that food demand is outstripping supply," says Executive Vice President Jim Borel. BHP Billiton understands the need for phosphate. The global resources company recently offered $39 billion for Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, which included an $11 billion valuation for the company's phosphate and nitrogen assets.

As Lifton explains:

Academics at Sydneys University of Technology believe peak phosphate could become a reality as soon as 2030. They also include Professor Stuart White, who suggests that the price of this indispensible soil nutrient could then skyrocket as supply is consequently eclipsed by demand.

In turn, such a shortage could pose a serious threat to global food supplies as much higher prices for crop staples become a stark reality.

If you're smart, you'll follow Lifton, just as we did when he warned of a rare earth shortfall. You see, there's a real boom that lies ahead for the fertilizer sector, thanks in large part to phosphate shortfalls. We have a way to play it.

No respite from high farm prices this decade
Fri 17 Jun, 2011 09:15 --By Gus Trompiz

PARIS (Reuters) - World commodity prices will keep up their relentless push higher this decade compared to previous years, supported by burgeoning demand for food and fuel as well as knock-on effects from energy costs, the FAO and OECD said.

Prices of major farm commodities, however, should ease from highs seen in the past year as the recent spike spurs increased output, a report said ahead of a key summit next week where G20 agriculture ministers will grapple with volatile food prices.

"Commodity prices should fall from the highs of early 2011, but in real terms are projected to average up to 20 percent higher for cereals (maize) and up to 30 percent for meats (poultry) over the 2011-20 period compared to the last decade," the report said.

World food prices hit a record high earlier this year, triggered mainly by bad weather, reviving memories of soaring prices in 2007-2008 that sparked riots in countries such as Egypt, Haiti and Cameroon.

President Nicolas Sarkozy, head of the G20 leading economies, is gunning for a summit deal imposing tough new rules on speculators, whom he blames for the surge in food prices which have gained nearly 40 percent over the past 12 months.


G20 agriculture ministers meet in Paris next week.

Most food commodities were set to see increased average prices in real terms versus the past decade while all were expected to rise in nominal terms, the report by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said.

A recovery in agricultural stocks after a drawdown that fuelled high prices in 2010/11 will be limited by production constraints such as declining yield growth and rising input costs, the bodies said in their joint Agricultural Outlook 2011-2020 report published on Friday.

Global agricultural output was projected to grow at 1.7 percent annually on average in the next 10 years, down from 2.6 percent in the previous decade, reflecting lower crop growth.

"The global slowdown in projected yield improvements of important crops will continue to exert pressure on international prices," the report said, adding this would be partly offset by productivity gains in emerging countries.

The FAO warned in a separate report last week that a forecast rise in world grain output this year would not be enough to build up stocks and bring much lower prices, even if its world price index has eased from a record high in February.

FEED, FUEL TO DRIVE MAIZE PRICES

Rising costs of inputs like fertilisers and other farm chemicals sensitive to oil prices would also curb output by pressuring profitability, the joint FAO and OECD report said, estimating nominal maize prices would not increase in the period to 2020 when deflated for U.S. production costs.

Like in their joint outlook last year, they pointed to growing use of grains in biofuels as contributing to price pressure by reinforcing a link with energy markets and by raising demand for foodstuffs like maize and vegetable oils.

Together with other international organisations, they have called on the Group of 20 leading economies to end subsidies for biofuels in order to help rein in food costs, adding their voice to a fierce debate over biofuels that has been framed by critics as a question of "food versus fuel.

In their new report the FAO and OECD also reiterated their support for measures to improve productivity, market information, policy coordination and risk management in order to stem price volatility, themes that are set to be endorsed by G20 farm ministers at their meeting next week.

Among cereals, the sharp rise in average prices for maize (corn), linked to robust demand for the crop in both ethanol fuel and animal feed, would outstrip stable wheat prices and cut the price spread between the two crops to close to 1.2 by 2020 versus 1.4 in the previous decade, the FAO and OECD report said.

By 2020 biofuels were projected to absorb 13 percent of global production of coarse grains, primarily maize, 15 percent of vegetable oil and some 30 percent of sugar. Sugar prices were expected to remain higher on average to 2020 versus the previous decade, after coming off a recent 30-year peak, but will see cycles linked to government policies, notably in India, and conditions in top producer and exporter Brazil, the report said.

Meat prices in real terms would also stay on a higher level, supported by growing demand in developing countries and as rising input costs limit price-driven herd expansion.

When all is said and done, you can sum it up like this. World population is set to increase by another 80 million this year. If the world cannot produce enough food, price rises are as inevitable as the rising ( or setting ) sun.

the new gold will be WATER.

time for me to buy back again

Tuesday, 21st June 2011, by Agrimoney.com

Investors 'too afraid' over huge Saudi phosphate project
Are phosphate investors getting too scared about Ma'aden?

The phosphate project, a joint venture between the Saudi Arabian Mining Company and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, is certainly a big deal, costing some $6bn.

The tie-up, which announced on Monday it had started production of phosphates, will have capacity of 3m tonnes a year once it gets going in earnest next year.

That is equivalent to meeting some 7% of world consumption in one swoop, which would appear poor news for prices given demand which has, over the last 20 years, stayed pretty much static.

And it looks especially poor news for producers in Morocco, being situated closer to India, a huge buyer of the fertilizer, with imports of 8m tonnes last year.

"It is going to take a tremendous slice out of Morocco's marketing," Donald Sinclair, finance director at phosphate miner Sunkar Resources, said.

Capacity constraints

But Ma'aden alone is not the answer to the world's phosphate needs, for two reasons, he believes.

First, capacity is also being closed, typically for environmental reasons.

Mosaic, the world's biggest phosphate group, has had found its ambitions for the South Fort Meade mine in Florida constrained by concerns over wetlands.

And Mr Sinclair named an Indian group he believed would close down a mine this year over a lack of space to store gypsum - a byproduct of making the fertilizer, which might find a ready market too (it is better known as Plaster of Paris) were it not for the high levels of uranium in the phosphate industry's output.

'Frightened everyone off'

Secondly, phosphate demand is set to grow, as will that of other fertilizers, as the need to feed an expanding world population encourages farmers to maximise yields.

The flat world phosphate consumption over the past 20 years actually conceals an early-1990s dip - when the break-up of the Soviet Union prompted a steep downturn in the region's agriculture, which had been used to heavy state support- and a rebound thereafter.

And phosphate demand is expected to keep growing at about 2% a year, equivalent to more than 1m tonnes a year, and near-doubling consumption, to 80m tonnes a year, around 2040, according to UK-based consultants Cru Group.

"Ma'aden has frightened everyone else off from phosphate in the short term," Mr Sinclair told Agrimoney.com.

"But taking growing demand into account, the addition of 3m tonnes of capacity at Ma'den gets swallowed up pretty quickly."

Pros and cons

Of course, Mr Sinclair would say that, as the finance director of a company looking to raise $880m to set up a phosphate fertilizer plant in Kazakhstan, where it is already mining the key raw material of phosphate rock from a Soviet-era mining concession.

The snag with the project, named Chilisai, is the relatively low concentration of phosphate in the rock at its deposit, which comes in at about half the 30-32% found in Morocco - meaning buyers need to transport twice as much to get the same level of fix.

The upside is the proximity of sulphur and ammonia supplies, key requirements for turning rock into fertilizer, and handy rail links into the former Soviet Union and China.

Indeed, it would be cheaper, in rail costs, to transport phosphate from Chilisai to north west China than from plants in the south of China, with the Caspian Sea offering shipping routes to Iran too.

'Not that risky'

The result, on Mr Sinclair's calculations, is a project offering $8.4bn of revenues over 20 years, with earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $171m in 2016, rising to $212m in 2025.

That washes out as an internal rate of return of 13.8%, after tax.

Is that a justifiable reward for investing in a country which, by reputation, is not one of the world's easiest places to do business?

"Kazakhstan is not that risky. Many people see it as a better bet than Russia," Mr Sinclair said.

Indeed, Transparency International rated Kazakhstan above Russia in Ukraine in its latest corruptions index, and on a par with Argentina, if below levels of major Western economies.

And Mr Sinclair, who was brought up on a sheep farm on a remote island in the UK's Outer Hebrides, might know a thing about wild and woolly places.

News of update today

Project Operations Update

Sunkar Resources plc (AIM:SKR) is pleased to present an update on its ongoing dicussions with potential strategic partners on the Chilisai Phosphate Project and Direct Application Rock ("DAR" or "phosphate flour") sales.

Discussions with several potential strategic partners ongoing

DAR sales interest growing as revised fertilizer subsidy scheme implemented

Industrial scale testing now anticipated in Q3 2011

Feasibility Study anticipated in late Q3 2011

Strategic Partner discussions

The Company is in discussions with several potential strategic partners for the Project in parallel with developing the Feasibility Study for the Chilisai project.

Interested parties are undertaking due diligence, with access to the full Preliminary Feasibility Study Report, and technical and geological information. A number of the parties have already completed site visits. Amongst those parties conducting due diligence, are well established fertilizer market operators as well as non-industry specific parties.

DAR sales

The Company launched its first milling train in December 2010 and the milling and loading complex was completed and commissioned within the first quarter of 2011. Operations are anticipated to ramp up in the second half of the year following the implementation of the revised Kazakhstan government fertilizer subsidy programme. As a result of this delay in the domestic subsidy changes, interest in DAR sales came mostly from Russian buyers, farmers and fertilizer blenders, who after trialing DAR are interested in further orders. The Directors believe that establishing commercial relations with bulk fertilizer trading organizations is of particular importance for the Company at this stage.

The Company has signed several agreements for subsidised commercial sales of DAR with local Kazakhstan agricultural producers. The shipment volumes contracted are in excess of 3,000 tonnes of DAR which is to be delivered during the period of July- August 2011.

Initial market reaction has convinced the Directors that DAR sales will grow during the short to medium term and they expect these to provide considerable cash flow to the Company as it progresses through the next stage of the Chilisai Phosphate Project's development. The growing interest in Chilisai phosphate product underlines the potential of phosphate flour providing a good, relatively low cost source of phosphate for farmers in the region.

Industrial Scale Testing

Since Sunkar initiated DAR production, significant interest has been shown by potential industrial buyers to secure bulk phosphate rock shipments.

The Company announced on 7 April 2011 that it had signed a protocol with the Russian company Meleuzovskie Mineralnye Udobreniya ("MMU") to conduct industrial scale tests in the first half of 2011 at its compound fertiliser plant in Meleuz, Russia. MMU recently notified the Company that capital repairs are required to their phosphoric acid unit to replace failing mechanical equipment and suggest that industrial scale tests are conducted after the completion of renovation. Therefore it is intended to revisit the industrial scale tests agenda in the third quarter of 2011.

The Directors believe that cooperation with MMU may result in an agreement for a long term off-take of a substantial part of the current output at the Chilisai mine.

Feasibility Study

Completion of the Feasibility Study will be pivotal in the development of the Chilisai Phosphate Project so it is of paramount importance to ensure that all aspects of the report are comprehensively prepared, reviewed and coordinated. The majority of the study, in particular the technical aspects, is virtually complete. Currently, verification testing for final technology approvals is being completed.

Agreeing the scope of another essential aspect of the Feasibility Study - the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment ("ESIA") has taken a substantial amount of time due to the various sets of requirements and regulations of the Kazakhstan legal system, the engineering firm's internal standards, Equator Principles, World Bank guidelines and recommendations by the project finance advisor. There are certain obligatory stages of an ESIA, such as public hearings in the area of the future chemical plant, which can only be conducted after the basic design of the chemical plant has been finalised. The completion of the ESIA is anticipated in the third quarter of 2011. Accordingly, the Directors currently anticipate that completion of the Feasibility Study will be towards the end of 3Q 2011.

Serik Utegen, Chief Executive Officer commented - "We are generally very satisfied with the progress made to date. The seriousness of potential partners' approach to due diligence is encouraging and we look forward to seeing a very active second half of this year. The feasibility study for the project must account for all possible aspects of its future construction and operation and requires the sign-off of by a number of parties. We are glad to see the majority of the work has been completed and the study is now in the final stages of completion."

"Following the implementation of the Kazakhstan fertilizer subsidy programme, we have started to receive orders for DAR from Kazakhstan farmers and whilst overall quantities remain modest, the growing interest is encouraging."

up she goes again

I thought that was you MRSI :-)

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201107190700116142K