Millennial Potash Corp (TSX-V:MLP, OTCQB:MLPNF) reported a major upgrade to the mineral resource estimate (MRE) for the northern area of its Banio potash project in Gabon, including a large maiden Measured resource that company leadership said would underpin a forthcoming feasibility study.
The updated MRE outlines 648 million tonnes of Measured carnallitite resources, a type of potash-bearing rock used to produce potassium fertilizer, grading 15.7% KCl, the first time the project has reported a Measured category.
Indicated carnallitite resources rose to 1.77 billion tonnes at 15.4% KCl, while Indicated sylvinite resources were estimated at 35 million tonnes grading 24.3% KCl. Combined, Measured and Indicated resources increased about 275% from the company’s 2024 estimate.
Inferred resources also rose sharply to 3.56 billion tonnes grading 15.6% KCl, including 3.46 billion tonnes of carnallitite and 96 million tonnes of higher-grade sylvinite.
Shares of Millennial Potash jumped 19% following Monday's opening bell in Toronto.
“The increase in resources since our maiden resource in 2024 has been massive,” Chair Farhad Abasov said, pointing to the expansion to 2.42 billion tonnes of Measured and Indicated carnallitite and the potential to “substantially” scale up future production plans. He added the new estimate covers only about 5% of the project area, with drilling and seismic data indicating mineralization continues north and south.
The new resource totals equate to 102 million tonnes of contained KCl in the Measured category, 281 million tonnes in Indicated, and about 555 million tonnes in Inferred, the company said.
Millennial said the updated estimate incorporates drilling from 2024 and 2025 and defines up to seven evaporite cycles with roughly 20 carnallitite seams and three sylvinite seams. The flat-lying geology of the West African Evaporite Basin supports long-range extrapolation of seams, it added.
The MRE will form the basis of a feasibility study focused on solution mining, backed by US$3 million in non-dilutive funding from the US International Development Finance Corp. Millennial said the study will initially concentrate on the project’s North Target, where all drilling to date has encountered significant salt-bearing sequences, locally exceeding 100 metres in thickness.
Located at the northern end of the West African Evaporite Basin, Banio hosts both carnallitite and structurally controlled sylvinite zones, which the company says could improve overall grades and economics.