High Grade 98% Sulphate of Potash Produced in Major Milestone
Australia's First Field Evaporated Sulphate of Potash
Perth, Jan 22, 2019 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Australian Potash Limited (
ASX:APC) (APC or the Company) is pleased to announce that it has produced Australia's first field evaporated Sulphate of Potash at its pilot processing facility in Canning Vale.
Highlights:
- Sulphate of potash with a purity of 98% produced from pilot plant
- 65 kilograms of SOP produced in first production run
- Target volume of 250 kilograms from first batch of field evaporated salts on track
- Lake Wells Potash Project (LWPP) confirmed as a high-grade SOP producer targeting low cost production for the global market
The achievement of this significant milestone has exceeded expectations of product purity previously held by APC. The result follows almost one month after the industry first delivery milestone of 3 tonnes of the final potassium rich harvest salts from APC's Lake Wells site in Western Australia's Goldfields to the processing facility.
Working to the flow-sheet designed by Novopro, the production process is being managed by one of that firm's senior engineers seconded to APC for the duration. Preliminary analysis from titration indicates a 98% pure SOP equivalent to approximately 53% K2O.
Managing Director and CEO, Matt Shackleton, commented: "APC adopted a primary focus on the chemistry of the salts we can produce at Lake Wells very early on in our program. It gave us confidence, therefore, to not only achieve this significant Australian milestone but to now see that the salts we produce at Lake Wells are of the highest quality.
"Combined with what is now a proven processing pathway to high-grade SOP, APC's Lake Wells Potash Project's superior logistical advantage driven by proximate rail and port access and the low-risk brine abstraction model our geological setting affords us, gives us even more confidence we will be able to deliver a low-cost product for the competitive world market. We have access to rail, and do not have to use trenching to abstract the potassium brines.
"We look forward to using the high-grade SOP produced here in the pending research program through 2019 which will allow us to further define the agronomic benefits of APC's Lake Wells SOP in Western Australian soil profiles, and further demonstrate our commitment to the WA agricultural sector."
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About Australian Potash Ltd
Australian Potash Limited (ASX:APC) is an ASX-listed Sulphate of Potash (SOP) developer. The Company holds a 100% interest in the Lake Wells Potash Project located approximately 500kms northeast of Kalgoorlie, in Western Australia's Eastern Goldfields.
Following the release of a Scoping Study in 2017, APC has been conducting a Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) into the development of the Lake Wells Potash Project. The Company is aiming to release the findings of the DFS in H2 2019.
The Lake Wells Potash Project is a palaeochannel brine hosted sulphate of potash project. Palaeochannel bore fields supply large volumes of brine to many existing mining operations throughout Western Australia, and this technique is a well understood and proven method for extracting brine. APC will use this technically low-risk and commonly used brine extraction model to further develop a bore-field into the palaeochannel hosting the Lake Wells SOP resource.
A Scoping Study on the Lake Wells Potash Project was completed and released on 23 March 2017. The Scoping Study exceeded expectations and confirmed that the Project's economic and technical aspects are all exceptionally strong, and highlights APC's potential to become a significant long-life, low capital and high margin sulphate of potash (SOP) producer.
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