Fertilizer International 523 Nov-Dec 2024
30 November 2024
Potash project listing 2024
PROJECT LISTING PK
Potash project listing 2024
Fertilizer International presents a global round-up of current potash projects.
NOTES:
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.
* Expansion
** Production plant assets sold to Reward Minerals.
*** Project effectively mothballed for now.
Anglo American investment will decrease to $200 million next year and zero in 2026.
PROJECT TYPE:
B Brownfield expansion
G Greenfield
CM Conventional mine
LBE Lake brine extraction
SE Seawater extraction
SM Solution mine
START-UP DATE:
N/A Not available or provided
PRODUCT:
MOP Muriate of potash, KCl
SOP Sulphate of potash, K2 S04
PROJECT STAGE:
FS Feasibility study
P Permitted
UC Under construction
C Completed/commissioned
VAN IPEREN INTERNATIONAL
GreenSwitch SOP enters the market
The first bulk consignment of GreenSwitch® Potassium Sulphate (SOP) left Cinis Fertilizer’s factory in Sweden on 18th September for delivery via ship to customer Van Iperen International in The Netherlands (see photo).
“This first delivery is an exciting step forward,” said Erik van den Bergh, Van Iperen’s managing director. “The soonto-arrive first batch of GreenSwitch® SOP signifies a crucial step in our mission to distribute premium quality circular fertilizers that benefit growers and contribute to more sustainable agriculture practices.”
The delivery follows first production by Cinis Fertilizer at its inaugural 100,000 t/a capacity SOP plant at Örnsköldsvik, Köpmanholmen, Sweden, on 4th June. The plant will also produce 65,000 t/a of sodium chloride as a co-product (Fertilizer International 521, p38).
The Örnsköldsvik plant is powered by fossil-free and renewable energy and produces SOP from sodium sulphate (Na2 SO4 ) using patented technology. Cinis has contracts in place for upcycling sodium sulphate from industrial residues – including those from electric car battery manufacturing and ashes from pulp mills.
This first-of-its-kind production method – based on the glaserite process – uses half as much energy as conventional SOP production, according to Cinis. The company quotes an energy consumption of 50,000 MWh for its production process versus 100,000 MWh for conventional manufacture, based on a 100,000 tonnes of SOP production.
The result, says Cinis, is a fertilizer with a low carbon footprint making a “unique and circular contribution” to sustainable agriculture. The SOP obtained at Örnsköldsvik will be sold and marketed by Van Iperen International as GreenSwitch® Potassium Sulphate, a pure and fully water-soluble SOP product, with significantly reduced CO2 emissions, that is suitable for foliar and fertigation applications.
Van Iperen has already begun packaging and distributing GreenSwitch® SOP to its customers, having previously received deliveries from Sweden by trucks. The company is now scaling up its packing and distribution operations following the arrival of the boat shipment. The first packaged product deliveries were subsequently sent out to customers globally in October.
Laboratory analyses have already been carried out to determine product quality and suitability. These validation tests confirm that the rigorous specifications for water-soluble fertilizers – including pH, solubility and high potassium content – have been met.
PADCOM
Manitoba’s first potash mine enters production
Manitoba’s first potash project entered production in July. The pioneering solution mining project is being developed by the Potash and Agri Development Corporation of Manitoba (PADCOM) in the hamlet of Harrowby, about 16 kilometres west of Russell, Manitoba.
It began pilot production in June 2023.
The Manitoba government granted PAD-COM permission to begin potash extraction and production in June 2022. The company has invested $12 million in the mining venture to date.
Daymon Guillas, PADCOM’s president, confirmed to CBC News that commercial production had started over the summer and that white Manitoba potash would soon enter the market.
PADCOM is using an innovative ‘polythermic’ selective solution mining process. When fully operational, its mine will extract and produce 100,000 t/a of potash – with the potential to scale this to 250,000 t/a – from the Russell Harrowby ore deposit in the province. The solution mine is expected to have a life of more than 100 years.
PADCOM emphasises the sustainability of its mining operations.
“This operation will use a more environmentally friendly mining process,” said Daymon Guillas, PADCOM’s president. “The physical footprint is small, and the process will use green energy.”
According to the company, solution mining using advanced technology developed by Beechy Potash Products Corp (BPPC) offers the following benefits:
- Lower operating costs and reduced water and energy consumption compared to a typical conventional solution mining
- Less surface impact due to the small plant size and the avoidance of salt tailings
- Overall, the mine’s technology and operations will generate almost zero emissions.
It also produces a white not pink potash product.
“If you’re not using solution mining, you’re bringing up the salt to the surface as well, so one of our key mantras is to keep as much salt underground as we can,” PADCOM’s CEO Brian Clifford told CBC News. “When you’re looking at the other mines around here when you’re driving, you can see millions and millions of tonnes of salt on the surface. That is not a part of our mining operation.”
PADCOM was set up to pursue rural economic development opportunities in Western Manitoba, with the specific aim of developing the Russell Harrowby potash deposit. It was formed in partnership with Gambler First Nation, a local indigenous community, who have a 20 per cent equity stake in the project.
According to Daymon Guillas, 11 percent of the mine’s net profits will be given to Gambler First Nation, Waywayseecappo First Nation, Birdtail Sioux First Nation, Treaty 2 Territory, Treaty 1 Territory and the Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF) as social royalties. A further four percent of profits will also go into an economic development fund for the area. n
HIGHFIELD RESOURCES
New $220 million funding deal for Muga
Highfield Resources announced $220 million of equity funding on 23rd September, enough to bring the first phase of its flagship Muga potash in Spain into production.
The new investment package comes from Hong Kong and Shanghai listed Yankuang Energy and other strategic investors, including Beijing Energy and trader Singapore Taizhong.
“This is to fully fund the Muga project,” Olivier Vadillo, head of marketing and investor relations, told Mining Journal. “This is very much a transformative strategic partnership that we’re building here, to create what will be a global project in very distinct but complementary geographical location.”
“On completion of this deal, we believe we will have the assets, the team and the capital to unlock and create significant value for Highfield,” added Ignacio Salazar, the company’s CEO, in a market announcement.
Muga’s concession covers a 46 km2 area of the Ebro basin, straddling Aragón and Navarra provinces in Northern Spain. Initially, the project will have an annual production capacity of around half a million tonnes for muriate of potash (MOP), with the potential to double this capacity as part of Highfield’s second phase plans. Access to international markets is provided through the Port of Pasajes, San Sebastian, 150 kilometres to the west of the proposed mine.
The underground mining project is targeting a sylvinite ore zone starting at a depth of 350 metres. The ore, which is inter-bedded with halite, will be extracted by conventional underground ‘room and pillar’ mining using continuous miners, road headers and conveyors.
A processing plant, to be constructed at Sangüesa, will then upgrade mined ore using a two-stage crushing process, attrition scrubbing, hydrocyclone desliming and froth flotation. Additional proposals include a 1.3 million tonne capacity crystallisation plant capable of producing 135,000 tonnes of granular potash and 260,000 tonnes of industrial salt (NaCl) as by-products from the treatment of tailings (Fertilizer International 472, p64).
Muga is fully permitted and construction-ready with the following fundamentals:
- Ore reserves in excess of 10 million tonnes (K2 O)
- Conventional ‘room and pillar’ mining
- Construction-ready project with an eventual planned annual production capacity of one million tonnes
- Mine Life of 30 years
- Estimated capex of around $800 million and opex of $118/t
- Net present value (NPV) of €e1.82 billion and a 24% internal rate of return (IRR).
“Muga will be very much a European project feeding the European markets,” marketing head Vadillo told Mining Journal. “We’re only about an hour’s drive, from the French border, and there’s a huge amount of demand in the south of France as well, a lot of buyers that we know very, very well.”
The $890 million (e834 million) project is being financed by a mix of:
- New equity funding: $220 million (e267 million) from Yankuang Energy, Beijing Energy, Taizhong and other strategic investors
- Debt: €e321 million ($342 million) of secured project financing from BNP Paribas, Caja Rural de Navarra, ING, HSBC, Natixis and Société Generale
- Equipment operating lease: €e25 million ($27 million) of financing via Macquarie
- Short-term funding: €e14 million ($15 million).
As part of the new finance deal with Asian investors, Highfield will also acquire the capital of the Southey potash project in Saskatchewan, Canada, as well as develop this project. This 2.8 million t/a solution mining project – which dates from 2011 – has the necessary environmental approvals and published a project feasibility study (PFS) in 2016. It is currently owned by Yancoal Canada, a subsidiary of Yankuang Energy.
Critically, Highfield’s buy-in to the Southey project and the equity package for the Muga project are inter-conditional. The equity deal is due to be completed in early 2025, with Highfield seeking to raise as much $15 million in the interim to support project activities.
CARTESIAN CAPITAL GROUP
PolyNatura revives polyhalite project hopes
The owner of PolyNatura Corp, global private equity firm Cartesian Capital, is advancing the Ochoa polyhalite project in New Mexico, in cooperation with Fisterra Energy, an investment company that specialises in greenfield sustainability projects. The Ochoa project (Fertilizer International 480, p60) is located some 60 miles east of Carlsbad, New Mexico, less than 20 miles west of the Texas/New Mexico state line.
The large-scale deposit is said to be the sole polyhalite resource in the Americas with 630 million tons of Measured & Indicated resources at an average grade of 82.6%. This resource will support a mine life of at least 50 years, based on annual production of 1.8 million tons from 161 million tons of Proven & Probable reserves with an average product grade of 87.1%.
PolyNatura’s polyhalite deposit is located within the Permian-age Delaware Basin at a depth of around 1,500 feet (460 metres) underground in a flat-lying seam of 5.4 feet average thickness. The mineral will be extracted by a conventional ‘room-and-pillar’ technique using electrical continuous miners.
Preparing the New Mexico polyhalite ore for market only requires dry crushing and sizing – a relatively simple, low-cost method that consumes minimal water compared to chemical processing. This minerals processing step will also use granulation and concentration circuits to increase polyhalite grade and boost project economics. The concentration circuit will incorporate short wavelength infrared (SWIR) equipment to analyse and sort the crushed ore.
The current plan is to truck the final product 22 miles east of the processing plant to a rail loadout facility equipped with 60,000-ton product storage domes. Polyhalite will loaded from here onto the Texas & New Mexico Railroad which, in turn, links to the Union Pacific Railroad. Rail freight provides access to Gulf and Pacific ports for onward shipment to international destinations.
The company is targeting the US, Mexico and other Latin American countries such as Brazil and Colombia as key markets. Full commercialisation of the project is scheduled for 2027-2028 following preconstruction, procurement and construction phases.
