Fertilizer International 499 Nov-Dec 2020
30 November 2020
Potash project listing 2020
PROJECT LISTING
Potash project listing 2020
Fertilizer International presents a global round-up of current potash projects.
NOTES: * Ramp-up/expansion ** Project under review
Greenfield projects (G): generally, these must have reached the detailed/bankable feasibility study (FS) stage for inclusion.
Brownfield expansions (BE): capacity indicates incremental additions, not total capacity.
The following projects have not been listed as their curent status is unknown:
- ThaiKali, Thailand; SinoAgri, Laos; Kalium Mineracao, Brazil; Ochoa, New Mexico.
- Bolivia’s CAMC (Uyuni) 350,000 t/a capacity MOP plant commissioned in 2018 has yet to fully ramp-up
- Production at the Turkmenkhimiya (Garlyk) MOP plant in Turkmenistan commissioned in 2017/18 was forecast at 100,000 tonnes in 2020.
- A final investment decision in BHP’s Jansen mega project in Saskatchewan is expected in mid-2021.
KEY PROJECT TYPE:
G Greenfield
B Brownfield expansion
CM Conventional mine
SM Solution mine
LBE Lake brine extraction
STATUS:
N/A Not available or provided
PRODUCT:
MOP Muriate of potash, KCl
SOP Sulphate of potash, K2 S04
SG Super Greensand, glauconite
PROJECT STAGE:
S Scoping
FS Feasibility study
P Permitted
UC Under construction
C Completed
Woodsmith project update
One mile down beneath the North York Moors National Park lies a 260 million-yearold polyhalite deposit. This is the world’s largest, highest grade resource of this nutrient-rich mineral – a fact which helped convince Anglo American to purchase Sirius Minerals and its Woodsmith project in March this year (Fertilizer International 494, p8; Fertilizer International 495, p10).
Polyhalite is a potassium-bearing mineral which also contains sulphur, magnesium and calcium, together with numerous micronutrients such as iron, boron, zinc and selenium. It is therefore able to provide several key plant nutrients in just one product. This is being marketed by Anglo American under the name POLY4.
Unlike other fertilizer products, POLY4 does not require any chemical processing. It is simply crushed and granulated, making it suitable for organic farming. This relatively simple production process, together with its 1:1 ore-to-product ratio, also gives POLY4 a low carbon footprint compared to other conventional chemical fertilizers. Anglo American believes that these properties – allied to the ability of the calcium present in POLY4 to strengthen soils – will help drive more sustainable fertiliser practices. Indeed, sustainability and low environmental impact are central themes which run through the entire Woodsmith project.
The mine itself – nestled on a hilltop above the picturesque town of Whitby – will be barely visible. It has been specifically designed to blend into the North York Moors landscape, with all the key infrastructure hidden beneath the surface. The number and size of the buildings have also been reduced to a minimum, while extensive landscaping and planting ensures the site is screened from view.
Most importantly, a 360 metre-deep mineral transportation tunnel will eliminate the need for any surface transport of the product. Instead, from the Woodsmith mine, just south of Whitby, the polyhalite will travel via an underground conveyor belt to a processing plant and harbour on Teesside, 37 kilometres away. From there it will be transported around the world and sold as a bulk speciality fertilizer.
Mine construction began in spring 2017. Two 35 metre-wide and 60 metre-deep foreshafts were initially excavated and constructed. The headframes for the service shaft and production shaft will be emplaced in these, enabling them to be sunk underground and hidden from view. The service shaft foreshaft was completed in late 2019, with the production shaft following a few months later. Preparations for main shaft sinking operations have advanced at pace since then.
The shaft sinking method is in keeping with the innovative approach to the whole project – with the company choosing to use Shaft Boring Roadheader (SBR) technology over traditional drill-and-blast methods. Adapted from tunnel boring machine technology, SBR machines mechanically cut, remove spoil and line the shaft simultaneously, allowing safer, faster progress. As of October 2020, the first SBR machine is fully constructed and undergoing commissioning, ahead of the start of shaft sinking operations this winter, with the second SBR machine for the production shaft not far behind. Shaft sinking operations are expected to last around two years.
37 kilometres to the north, a factory to process the polyhalite ore into soluble, slow-release granules will be built in the heavily industrialised Teesside area. Excavation of the transportation tunnel to link the two sites began in April 2019, using a tunnel boring machine launched from the Teesside end (see photo). Since then, progress has been quick, with the tunnel passing the 10 kilometre mark, as of October 2020. Another tunnel boring machine will begin tunnelling northwards from the mine end, once a shallow access shaft has been sunk with a cavern constructed at the bottom. Shaft sinking operations for this access shaft will begin in the coming months.
Once those operations are complete, the next stage will be the completion of the mine, tunnel, processing and shipping facilities needed to bring the mine into production.
Lake Wells SOP project at engineering design stage
Australian Potash Limited’s flagship Lake Wells sulphate of potash (SOP) is currently at the front-end engineering design (FEED) stage. Six engineering procurement and construction (EPC) contracts have also been issued for the project’s SOP processing plant, borefield fit-out, high voltage (HV) network, power station, communications infrastructure and village accommodation.
Additionally, the company is concluding offtake agreement discussions and securing finance to develop the project. This included successfully raising $7 million through a share issue in early November.
The Lake Wells project is located in the Eastern Goldfields region of Western Australia, 500 kilometres northeast of Kalgoorlie. The project – alongside the Woodsmith project in the UK, the Slavkaliy project in Belarus and EuroChem’s VolgaKaliy project in Russia – is one of only four greenfield projects globally that the International Fertilizer Association expects to be commissioned out to 2023.
Highlights of the project’s definitive feasibility study (DFS) published in 2019 include:
- Estimated reserves of 3.6 million tonnes and measured resources of 18.1 million tonnes
- A 30-year mine life based on the production of 150,000 t/a of premium grade SOP (K-Brite)
- Pre-tax Net Present Value (NPV) – a measure of profitability – of AUD 665 million and an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 25 percent
- Capex requirement of AUD 208 million with a capital intensity of AUD 1,387/t
- First-quartile industry opex of $262/t that delivers high cash operating margins.
The project has binding offtake agreements in place with four trading partners – Helm, Migao, Mitsui and Redox – covering 130,000 t/a of SOP production output in total. In September, Western Australia’s Environmental Protection Agency recommended that government ministers approve the project, although this decision is still pending.
