BHP Ltd., Melbourne, said in its nine-months operational review to March 31 released this week that its Jansen Stage 1 potash project in Saskatchewan, Canada, remains on track to be presented to the BHP Board of Directors for a Final Investment Decision (FID) in the middle of the 2021 calendar year.
The company reported the current investment program to complete the shafts at Jansen is now 91 percent complete, up from 89 percent in January (GM Jan. 22, p. 31). The program has a total investment budget of US$ 2.972 billion.
Stage 1, should it go ahead, will require another US$5.3-$5.7 billion to be completed, according to BHP, and would provide 4.3-4.5 million mt/y of potassium chloride production capacity.
In February, CEO Mike Henry was reported to have brought in external consultants to review all aspects of the Jansen potash project ahead of the upcoming FID decision, according to a Bloomberg report, citing a UBS AG note of Feb. 23 (GM Feb 26, p. 1).