South Harz Potash Ltd (ASX:SHP) has been granted a three-year extension to the Gräfentonna exploration licence in the South Harz potash basin in Germany to January 2026.
A rapid grant of extension was delivered by Thuringian mining authority, Thüringer Landesamt für Umwelt, Bergbau und Naturschutz (TLUBN) within one month of application submission in November 2022.
The Gräfentonna exploration licence covers an area of about 216 square kilometres enclosing the eastern portion of the known potash territory in the South Harz basin.
South of mining licence area
It lies immediately south of the company’s Ebeleben mining licence and would form the natural extension of any future mine at Ebeleben.
Location of the company's various licence areas in the South Harz Potash District region of Germany.
South Harz managing director Luis da Silva said: “We are delighted to again announce a multi-year licence extension, this time for the Gräfentonna permit.
“Strong working relationship”
"As with the Küllstedt licence extension last month, our team in Germany has readily demonstrated its strong working relationship with the TLUBN.
"Our gratitude again goes to the TLUBN for their efficacy in evaluating and approving the licence extension.”
The Gräfentonna exploration licence has been held by the company’s wholly-owned German subsidiary, Südharz Kali GmbH, since January 2015.
Conceptual exploration target
This licence area was previously drilled during various campaigns of exploration targeting hydrocarbons up until 1985 with a significant number of these drill holes intercepting potash.
Results from the historical drilling campaigns facilitated South Harz’s estimation of an exploration target on the Gräfentonna licence of between 2.678 and 3.396 billion tonnes at a potash grade between 4.3% and 25% K2O.
Gräfentonna exploration licence Isopach map showing distribution of sylvinite and carnallitite potash-bearing horizon.
SHP advises that the potential quantity and grade of this exploration target is conceptual in nature with further exploration required to estimate a mineral resource. It is uncertain if further exploration will result in the estimation of a resource.
About South Harz
South Harz Potash is a potash exploration and development company with its flagship project in the South Harz Potash District region of Germany, midway between Frankfurt and Berlin.
The South Harz Project hosts a globally large-scale potash JORC (2012) mineral resource estimate of 5 billion tonnes at 10.6% K2O of inferred resources and 258 million tonnes at 13.5% K2O of indicated resources across four wholly-owned project areas located favourably within central Europe.
This comprises three perpetual potash mining licences - Ohmgebirge, Ebeleben and Mühlhausen-Nohra - and two potash exploration licences - Küllstedt and Gräfentonna - covering about 659 square kilometres.
With strong established infrastructure proximate to the key European market, the South Harz Project is well positioned to enable rapid economic development across multiple deposits.