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DIGGeRs & DeALeRs

Comprehensive Supply Chain Solutions

Australian Potash takes note

APC will partner with the Wirrpanda
Foundation to create opportunities
for indigenous employment at
the Lake Wells SoP project. The
agreement was signed last year.
Pictured is APC non-executive
chairman Jim Walker, Wirrpanda
Foundation founder David
Wirrpanda, APC managing director
Matt Shackleton, Wirrpanda
Foundation director and general
manager – community and
development Troy Cook and Shire of
Laverton chief executive Peter Naylor

hose who have trailblazed in Western EPA second, so they are developing under Redox, Migao, Mitsui & Co. and HELM –
TAustralia’s emerging SoP sector have a small miners code if you like. When they which is enough to satisfy the debt provid-
provided Australian Potash Ltd (APC) with first started talking about that a few years ers, including Australia’s big four banks and
a blueprint to follow in project development. ago we weren’t sure if you could do that.” international outlets, interested in support-
“One of the advantages of having both APC has been wedded to the EPA-first ing Lake Wells.
Kalium [Lakes Ltd] and Salt Lake [Potash approach all along and hopes to achieve Lake Wells is also subject to potential
Ltd] go before us is that mistakes were that milestone for the Lake Wells SoP pro- Northern Australia Infrastructure Facil-
made and Kalium are quite open in say- ject in Q4 joining Kalium Ltd and Reward ity funding and with APC opening its data
ing the big mistake they made was adopt- Minerals Ltd with such permits. room to all interested financiers, Shackle-
ing the wrong contract strategy. They tried It took Kalium about 13 months to be ton expects term sheet options for the $208
to deal with that project first time around granted an EPA and APC is on track to million Lake Wells project soon.
themselves and you can’t build these things have its done within 10-12 months, which is Shackleton said he was feeling the love
yourself unless you have a workforce of an indication of the progress both industry from all potential parties willing to get be-
120 people. They were trying to control all and regulators are making in what is a new hind Lake Wells.
of these subcontractors and execute an industry for the State. “It is all about where you are at with your
EPCM style development, which eventually Ahead of the EPA which has been rec- project. If this [Mines & Money Connect]
ran off the rails,” APC managing director ommended to the Minister, APC has minor conference was last year we were probably
Matt Shackleton said. and preliminary work approvals in place for too early for some of these guys as we still
“Kalium did the right thing and pulled Lake Wells. had a lot to do. We only have three or four
the handbrake and went to an EPC footing “Commencement of development is not milestones to go before we are finished; it
which is exactly what we always said we will contingent on that EPA approval. What it is is a valuation metric for them. They need to
do. The last seven months for us has been contingent on is us securing equity invest- see the value and we are a value stock with
about designing the whole engineering de- ment. It is great that the market has taken a market cap over $53 million,” Shackleton
sign programme on EPC-style packages of updates on offtake, EPA and FEED really said.
work. We are in the middle of issuing tender well. We have gone from raising money at In the meantime, Shackleton signalled
documents now.” 5c/share in May to having a market cap of there may be more news on the offtake
Speaking to Paydirt last month, Shack- $53 million [at 13.5c/share] today. We have front coming.
leton applauded counterpart Tony Swieric- doubled our share price and value in mat- “We have conversations alive around
zuk, managing director of Salt Lake (SO4), ter of months and that will hold us in good North and South America which are two
for taking a “different” route to production at stead to secure the equity investment we very lucrative markets and I reckon we will
the Lake Way SoP project. need,” Shackleton said. probably say something about those in the
SO4 (see page 48) is on track to be WA’s A strategic or institutional party with the next four weeks,” he said.
first producer of SoP early next year. balance sheet to “go again and again” to “It is likely the EPA announcement will
“Tony and the whole ex-Fortescue [Met- support APC through to production would come first followed by further offtake an-
als Group Ltd] crew went into SO4 and be a good outcome. With EPA approval on nouncements. At the moment we have
showed us all a different way of developing the horizon and FEED almost complete, 40,000t uncontracted but that is ok, we can
a project, a different way of financing a pro- Shackleton believes the company is well trade that spot if we wanted and it is not
ject and a different way of getting offtake. placed to make a final investment decision too bad a position to be in. A better posi-
They have an enormous human resource on the 150,000 tpa Lake Wells SoP project. tion would be to get another Tier 1 partner
team that have chipped away at that strat- The company has 130,000 tpa of SoP in the North or South American markets for
egy,” Shackleton said. production sold under binding offtake offtake.”
“SO4 has developed first and gone for agreements with global Tier 1 parties – – Mark Andrews

Page 52 OCTOBeR 2020 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT