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Australia’s first SoP producer

hungry for more

alium Lakes Ltd is set to be declared
KAustralia’s first sulphate of potash (SoP)
producer, possibly as early as this month,
after Salt Lake Potash Ltd (SO4) stumbled
with the finish line in sight.
SO4 pulled out of a prized speaking spot
at Diggers & Dealers on the eve of the con-
ference after experiencing major issues
during the final stages of commissioning at
its Lake Way project and confirming further
funding would be needed before the end of
the year to continue operations.
At the time of print, shares in the compa-
ny were suspended and expected to remain
off market until at least the end of August.
SO4 was leading allcomers in the race
to become Australia’s first SoP producer, Kalium Lakes is on the verge of declaring
especially since Kalium Lakes fell behind high concentration ponds. first SoP production from its Beyondie
in the chasing pack early last year after “They’ve also put out in the market be- project in the Pilbara
reporting a construction cost overrun of fore that they use reverse flotation, which
$53 million for its Beyondie project, about means the flotation circuit takes out the and you can just see the level of ownership
160km south-east of Newman. waste and leaves the concentrate behind to and enthusiasm when they talk about the
It would take another series of unexpect- be processed downstream. We use a direct plant; it’s theirs, it’s their baby, they really
ed events to unfold over the coming weeks flotation, so we take out the concentrate understand it.
for Kalium Lakes not to take line honours, and the waste goes out to the waste ROM “I used to play rugby and for us it’s like
with the company last month confirming it pad and the recycle ponds. It’s that subtly in that moment just before the kick-off where
remained on track to meet its inaugural pro- the design difference that’s important.” it’s a bit nervous and exciting at the same
duction target in either late September or Van Niekerk added the company also time.”
early October. made a point of having performance guar- Last month’s feasibility study indicated
With the finishing line for Kalium Lakes antees in its contract with German plant the company only requires an incremental
firmly in sight, chief executive Rudolph van design engineers and manufacturers Ebtec capex of $45 million to expand production,
Niekerk has understandably been asked GbR and working with people who have which Kalium Lakes is confident of achiev-
whether his company is likely to encounter built these types of projects before in a ing in Q4 2022. The revised project eco-
the same issues currently stalling SO4. concerted effort to avoid any production nomics now include an unlevered pre-tax
Speaking to Paydirt last month after Kali- setbacks. NPV of $484 million and life-of-mine EBITA
um Lakes reported a robust feasibility study Ebtec has verified the potassium grade in of $3.46 billion, based on an average SoP
supporting a future production expansion, the 9,000t of salt already sitting on the ROM price of $US585/t.
van Niekerk explained in detail why the two pad for imminent processing, as well as for “It’s really good to see that from all of the
main issues plaguing the Lake Way devel- the 113,000t of SoP equivalent in the ponds work we’ve done so far we’ve got a bit of
opment would not be repeated by his com- awaiting harvesting. low-hanging fruit to allow us to do this ex-
pany at Beyondie. Van Niekerk hailed the small Kalium pansion,” van Niekerk said.
“It’s no secret that SO4 are having some Lakes team for delivering the Beyondie “We’ve seen the SoP prices go up quite
challenges in the market, so we’ve done project on time and on budget since last bullishly over the last few months and they
some introspection just to make sure that year’s hiccup, while concurrently complet- are forecasted to continue to do that, so the
we won’t get caught out with the same is- ing a feasibility study to expand production timing for us is perfect to maximise the op-
sues,” he said. from 90,000 tpa to 120,000 tpa by the end portunity to get our production and ramp-up
“One of those issues is the salts they of next year. to that 120,000 tpa number as quickly as we
produced had lower potassium grade than “We’re not a big team and now that peo- can.
anticipated. We’ve always been very par- ple are starting to see the light, you can see “The forecast [from CRU/Argus] for this
ticular on how we operate our ponds and the momentum really building,” he said. quarter is SoP prices going up to over
how we stop the brine flow between the low “We’ve still got to do that last push to get $US600/t. We haven’t seen these numbers
concentration ponds and the high concen- it across the line from a projects team point since 2009…and we think we are likely to
tration ponds, which allows us to control the of view, but the operations guys are starting keep seeing these higher prices for the next
types of salt that drop out. I haven’t seen in to get more involved in the plant which is 24 months.”
their photos that they’ve got a gated control good to see. I’ve taken a few people to site
system or anything specifically that allows lately and you get the managers taking you – Michael Washbourne
them to stop the brine flow from the low to through the different areas of responsibility

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