Junior potash developer Emmerson Plc, Isle of Man, announced on Feb. 12 that it has started the environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) baseline study for its Khemisset Potash Project in northern Morocco. It said the study is the initial work stream in the process of delivering a detailed ESIA, the key supporting document that will be delivered to Morocco’s Ministry of Mines to convert the company’s exploration permits to a mining license. The company has appointed Moroccan-headquartered firm Phénixa SARL to manage the baseline study and develop the framework for the EISA.
Emmerson recently released a scoping study for the project, which demonstrated Khemisset has, according to the company, a combination of low-capital-cost to production and among the highest EBITDA margins in the industry. The study revealed a Post Tax NPV10 of $795 million and an IRR of 29.8 percent over a 20-year mine life, assuming a flat real price of US$360/mt CFR Brazil. But on the basis of industry price forecasts by an independent market consultant, the Post Tax NPV10 is approximately $1.1 billion, the company said.
The potash developer is targeting an output of 700,000 mt-1 million mt/y of potash over an expected 20-year mine life at Khemisset, and is targeting mid-2022 for production start.