Australian junior salt and sulfate of potash (SOP) producer BCI Minerals Ltd.’s plan for a 100%-owned Mardie salt and potash project on the Pilbara coast of Western Australia (WA) has been reconfigured to focus on salt as the initial product, with the SOP plant design to be progressed during FY2024, the company said in an earnings presentation on Aug. 18.
BCI in June revealed that the project was experiencing significant cost increases and expected delays to the first shipments of salt and SOP from Mardie (GM June 30, p. 27).
This latest announcement comes close on the heels of two other WA solar SOP potash junior casualties amid growing negative investment sentiment in the developing potash sector.
Australian Potash Ltd. on Aug. 15 announced it was surrendering mining leases for its Lake Wells SOP project, some 500 kilometers northeast of Kalgoorlie, after it had not been able to secure further funding for the project (GM Aug. 18, p. 1). Two weeks earlier, another aspiring WA SOP producer, Kalium Lakes Ltd., collapsed into receivership.
Nevertheless, BCI reported on Aug. 25 that it has secured A$490 million (approximately $316 million at current exchange rates) of debt funding approvals from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) and A$160 million from Export Finance Australia (EFA) for its Mardie Salt project.
The funding, which remains subject to satisfying typical project finance conditions, includes all components of the Mardie project other than the SOP plant, the company said.
BCI said debt financing for the SOP plant will advance in 2024 following the completion of further design and cost elements. It is targeting an estimated SOP production at Mardie of some 140,000 mt/y, with first SOP on ship in mid-2027. The company is targeting an estimated 5.35 million mt/y of salt production at Mardie, with first salt on ship now expected in 2026.