Underwater discovery could be gold for Tampa explorers

TAMPA -- A Mexican subsidiary of Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc. has moved a big step closer to dredging phosphate sands, thanks in part to money received from a March loan-to-acquisition deal.

Exploraciones Oceanicas, which Tampa-based Odyssey holds a 54% stake in, has submitted environmental evaluation paperwork for the phosphate zone in the Pacific Ocean it has dubbed “Don Diego.” While the company won't reveal its exact location, the deposit is said to be about 25 miles from the coast in the Bay of Ulloa, near the Mexican state of Baja California Sur, just south of San Diego.

Odyssey has described the phosphate deposit as “one of the largest and most important in the continent.” On a website promoting the mining efforts, Odyssey claims dredging would allow Mexico to end its dependence on phosphate imports, and instead turn it into a phosphate-exporting nation.