Agrimin (ASX:AMN) is progressing several front-end engineering design (FEED) work streams to provide greater accuracy for operating and capital costs for its Mackay Potash Project in Western Australia.
The $76.41 million market capitalisation company reports an ‘extensive’ technical review of the process flowsheet and associated testwork database, combined with the reported experiences of other potash projects in the state, has led to further process testwork needing to be completed.
This additional testwork will aim to de-risk the project’s start-up stage by demonstrating the targeted potash-bearing salt mineral can consistently be produced from the expected harvest salt feed during the project’s start-up stage.
Agrimin expects the testwork program to be completed in the second half of 2023. The results will be used to refine the process design and facilitate a subsequent phase of testing the flotation and crystallisation steps.
Agrimin says the additional process testwork has begun in collaboration with a crystallisation vendor to test and confirm the ‘optimal’ harvest salt preparation under a range of operating conditions for the conversion reactor.
This reactor is considered ‘integral’ to the downstream processing stages, and once testing is advanced, it will facilitate further testwork to confirm the subsequent flotation process. The company reports harvest salts collected at various stages during the field evaporation trial at Lake Mackay have been prepared for conversion testwork and sent to vendors for additional analysis.
The testwork will focus on better understanding the range of process conditions for the front end of the process flowsheet and on variable-grade harvest salts that could be present during the start-up stage of the project before steady-state conditions are reached.
Meanwhile, Agrimin reports the Mackay Potash Project is being assessed by the Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority (EPA). As a result of a bilateral agreement between the Australian government, a separate assessment by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment, and Water (DCCEEW) is not required.
The company says its environmental review document for the project was released by the EPA for public comment in May 2022, and notes it has received comments from the EPA and is responding to them. The environmental impact assessment (EIA) remains on track for approval in the second half of 2023.
Other approvals, licences, and agreements being progressed include miscellaneous licences, mining lease, mining proposal, and mine closure plan approvals with the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS), as well as works approval and licence with the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER).
The company is also progressing an agreement with the Tjurabalan Native Title Lands (Aboriginal Corporation) RNTBC for the grant of a miscellaneous licence over a proposed haul road.
Commenting on the activities being undertaken, Agrimin Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Savich says: “As we continue toward establishing the Mackay Potash Project as the world’s leading seaborne supplier of Sulphate of Potash fertiliser, we have been undertaking front-end engineering design level studies on key parts of the process flow and design.
“Our current process testwork is aimed at providing improved confidence around the harvest salt preparation and conversion stage of the process flowsheet”
Our current process testwork is aimed at providing improved confidence around the harvest salt preparation and conversion stage of the process flowsheet, prior to embarking on the construction phase.
Over the coming months, we will be testing the key operating parameters of the conversion step being particle size, temperature, and residence time using a range of harvest salts that we expect to encounter during the start-up stage of the project.”
Agrimin is a Perth-based fertiliser developer focused on developing its Mackay and Lake Auld Potash projects in Western Australia. As of 31 March 2023, the company had $3 million cash at hand and no debt according to its latest presentation published on 20 July 2023.
Write to Harry Mulholland at Mining.com.au
Images: Agrimin Ltd
