TWO mining leases granted two weeks ago have firmed up an 18-month time frame for a start to local production of premium Sulphate of Potash (SoP) fertiliser.
Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Johnston on Wednesday last week granted Kalium Lakes Ltd – identified as KLL by its Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) code – mining leases over the eastern half of Ten Mile Lake and most of Sunshine Lake in the Little Sandy Dessert for its Beyondie SoP project.
The leases cover all of the brine-producing borefields and salt lake surface trenches, solar evaporation ponds, processing site, waste salt stockpile and associated roads and accommodation camp proposed for stage one of the project, 160 kilometres south east of Newman.
The mining leases are the first in WA issued for a SoP fertiliser project.
Australian Potash – ASX code APC – KLL’s major competitor in the race to be first to produce local SoP from salt lake brine, has been told by the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) its mining lease applications have been recommended for granting.
But they have not yet been signed off by Mr Johnston.As previously reported in Farm Weekly, KLL initially aims to produce either 75,000 or 150,000 tonnes a year – depending on whether a staged start-up is decided on – of premium fertiliser, granular fertiliser and horticulture grade soluble fertiliser comprising 51-52 per cent potassium oxide and less than 0.5pc chloride and insoluble material.
The fertiliser is proposed to be trucked about 850 kilometres to Geraldton port for export and to service local markets.
In an update to the ASX on the granting of mining leases, KLL said it holds 21 of the 28 tenements, licences and approvals it requires before commercial production can begin towards the end of next year.
“The granting of mining tenure unlocks the next significant steps for the company, including proceeding with mining proposal submissions, approvals with DMIRS, as well as the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation’s Part V works approval requirements,” said KLL managing director Brett Hazelden.
“Granting of these mining leases allows KLL to maintain its development schedule with the aim of commencing construction on site in the third quarter, followed by brine extraction and evaporation in the fourth quarter of this calendar year.
“Our team has worked closely with key representatives of the relevant government agencies.
“We genuinely appreciate the professional support and guidance that has led to this very important outcome.”
Mr Hazelden said the target was “having first product” by the end of next year.
The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has previously agreed to assess both KLL’s Beyondie SoP project and APC’s similar SoP project at Lake Wells, about 160 kilometres north east of Laverton in the Eastern Goldfields, on information provided by the companies with no public consultation.At the end of last month, the EPA granted KLL a minor and preliminary works consent covering construction, operation and maintenance of the access road in from the Great Northern Highway and upgrades to the accommodation camp, including waste water treatment plant, workshop and communication towers.Mr Hazelden said KL “anticipated” receiving the remaining State and Federal approvals for the project during the next quarter.
KLL is also collaborating with WA Salt Koolyanobbing on producing sodium chloride and with another company on possible recovery of high-purity hydrated magnesium carbonate, as byproducts of its Beyondie SoP operations.APC recently told the ASX its environmental consultants had completed some of the flora and fauna studies required at its Lake Wells site and expected to complete the final seasonal flora and fauna field program during the next quarter.
It said it planned to submit its environmental review document to the EPA later this year and expected the EPA’s recommendations for approval to be submitted to Environment Minister Stephen Dawson in the first quarter next year.
A detailed hydrological assessment of the project development area and hydrogeological investigations for process water were completed in 2017.APC said a preliminary brine hydrogeological flow model is being finalised by consulting hydrogeologists AQ2 to support its environmental review document.
APC executive chairman Matt Shackleton said: “The company’s approvals and permitting process remains firmly on track, with the finalisation of two key areas of fieldwork over the past two months.“APC’s environmental consultants, MBS Environmental, have significant experience working through the WA regulatory framework, and more particularly with respect to project developments in the Yamarna region where the Lake Wells SoP project is located.
“Our project schedule plans for final development approval being granted through half one 2019, which will allow us to meet our goal of development through 2019-20,” Mr Shackleton said.
APC is proposing to produce 150,000 tonnes of premium granular SoP fertiliser – also with less than 52pc potassium oxide content – per annum in the first five years of an estimated 20-year life of its project, then ramping production up to 300,000tpa, mostly for export.
It plans to transport its product by roadtrain to Leonora and rail it from there to Esperance port, beginning 2020.Australia imports all of its SoP fertiliser, about 40,000tpa, but local production of SoP, which has no chloride making it suitable for use on salt-affected farm lands, could see local usage jump to about 70,000tpa.
SoP sells for about $950 a tonne bulk in Australia, but can sell for $5.28 a kilogram or more as domestic vegetable garden and fruit tree fertiliser.On a global market estimated to be worth US$60 billion ($79b) a year and growing about 5pc a year since 2012, SoP sells for about US$500/t ($657/t).
