Blackham Resources Ltd (ASX:BLK) is set to benefit from the positive results of a scoping study evaluating the development of a potash demonstration plant at Lake Way, near its gold operations.
Results support a low capex, highly profitable, staged development model with total capital costs of $49 million and average cash operating costs FOB of $387 per tonne sulphate of potash (SOP).
Salt Lake Potash’s (SLP) scoping study confirms expectations that a 50,000 tonnes per annum demonstration plant at Lake Way is the ideal model for starting development of the broader SOP project.
READ: Blackham Resources’ partner confirms nearby potash potential
In March 2018, the two companies entered a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to investigate the sulphate of potash opportunity.
SLP holds 290 square kilometres of tenure covering Lake Way near to Blackham’s Matilda-Wiluna Gold Project in Western Australia.
Blackham holds 64 square kilometres at the northern end of Lake Way.
Under the MoU, SLP will acquire Blackham’s brine rights and Blackham will acquire gold rights to SLP’s Lake Way holdings.
$667 per tonne SOP price
Scoping study managers, Wood, forecast a SOP price of $667 per tonne making this operation highly profitable.
The objective is to produce initial harvest salts in mid-late 2019 for initial SOP production in early 2020, subject to permitting, weather and other parameters.
There are potentially considerable time savings from utilising the super-saturated brines in the
Williamson Pit at Lake Way and test work continues to define these parameters.
Formalising the MoU
SLP is in the process of drafting a formal agreement with Blackham, in accordance with the MoU.
Both parties currently anticipate dewatering of the Williamson Pit in late 2018 to early 2019.