South Harz Potash Ltd (ASX:SHP) continues to progress activities aimed at bringing the 100%-owned Ohmgebirge Potash Development in Thuringia, Germany, into production to satisfy Europe’s need for agriculture to sustain and nourish a growing population.
Progress has been boosted by A$425,500 in new equity funds raised through an initial shortfall placement with 42,550,000 shortfall shares issued on November 19, 2024.
READ: South Harz Potash completes entitlement issue to advance Ohmgebirge Potash Development
This follows the company’s recently completed pro-rata non-renounceable entitlement offer and recent placement which together raised around $1.57 million.
New equity
Additionally, the company previously announced firm commitments for 17.45 million new shares, representing A$174,500 of new equity, including a commitment for 5 million shares representing A$50,000 of new equity from executive chairman Len Jubber, subject to shareholder approval.
In aggregate, new issued or committed equity now totals approximately A$2.213 million, before costs.
In addition, SHP has today issued 4,147,500 shares to a service provider at A$0.01 per share in exchange for the provision of services to the company to the value of A$41,475.
The shortfall offer can remain open until December 13, 2024, which is three months following the closing date of the entitlement offer, unless directors decide to close the shortfall offer earlier.
Due diligence progresses
South Harz Potash is continuing to progress detailed due diligence activities and negotiation of definitive documentation for the purchase of the neighbouring Sollstedt mine property from Deusa International GmbH.
The exclusivity date was recently extended by agreement with Deusa to February 28, 2025, and the parties are continuing to target finalisation and execution of definitive transaction documentation by that date.
At a corporate and operational level progress is also being made on advancing preparatory Stage 2 permitting for the Ohmgebirge Potash Development following grant of the Spatial Planning Assessment in June 2024.
SHP is advancing qualification assessment for potential German R&D tax incentive rebates and complementary funding opportunities such as freight rail access and clean energy utilisation/critical minerals grants.
It is also evaluating long-term definitive feasibility study design and development funding pathways, including potential strategic partnerships.
Investor site visit
Earlier this month, the company hosted an investor site trip to Ohmgebirge and across its broader South Harz Potash Project tenure.
This visit included an underground tour of the neighbouring Sollstedt mine and potential access areas towards Ohmgebirge as well as visiting potential/targeted areas for processing and logistics.
Potash ore seams at the Sollstedt mine.
Feedback received included an enhanced appreciation of the scale of the opportunity and the extent of the existing infrastructure and accompanying brownfield development benefits, offered by the targeted acquisition of the Sollstedt property.
Key conferences
To help spread the message about South Harz and its project, company representatives have recently attended key industry conferences in Germany and Europe.
In late October, executive chairman Len Jubber attended the Argus Fertiliser Europe Conference in Athens. This is billed as Europe largest fertilizer trading event and was attended by leading global and European fertiliser industry participants.
Introductory meetings were held with various logistic chain operators, financiers, producers, etc. It was highlighted by the broad range of participants that the fertiliser industry is an integral part of sustaining and nourishing a growing global population.
Regional director Babette Winter attended the Raw Materials Congress of the German Industry Association BDI in Berlin on November 11.
This brought together more than 400 representatives from business, government, science and civil society to discuss a secure, comprehensive and sustainable supply of raw materials for Germany, including increasing domestic mining activities.
An outcome was a statement from BDI: “To advance domestic raw material extraction, the industry is calling on the German Government to facilitate mining through strategic land use planning and by speeding up approval processes.”