Western Potash Corp., a unit of Western Resources Corp., Vancouver, announced June 20 that it has received environmental assessment approval from the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment for the Milestone Phase I Project.
Western Potash said it continues to advance detailed engineering on the pilot project in advancement of construction. The pilot project will utilize selective solution mining techniques, which result in lower CAPEX and OPEX costs compared to conventional solution mining. The company is actively working to close the gap of the project financing. Once these are completed, the company said plant construction is anticipated to start in early 2018, with first potash production in 2020. As the Phase l Project proves to be successful, the company plans more feasibility studies, leading to annual production of 1.4 million mt/y.