BHP Group Ltd., Melbourne, said it is working to bring first production at its Jansen potash project in Saskatchewan forward to calendar 2026, according to an Operational Review statement for the year to June 30, 2022, published on July 19.
The mining group previously was targeting first production for calendar 2027, but in May revealed that it was looking at options to bring forward first production into 2026 (GM May 20, p. 1; May 6, p. 36).
The mining group reported that the Jansen shaft project was completed in the June 2022 quarter and the US$5.7 billion Jansen Stage 1 is tracking to plan, with activities progressing at the port and at the Jansen site.
The US$5.7 billion Jansen Stage 1 is currently 8% complete. On completion, it will have capacity to produce 4.35 million mt/y of potassium chloride.
BHP, as previously reported, is continuing to assess options to accelerate Jansen Stage 2, which would add another 4 million mt/y of capacity.