Kalium Lakes Ltd., Balcatta, Western Australia, reported on May 13 that its Beyondie Sulfate of Potash (SOP) Project in Western Australia is on track for the first commercial production of SOP in September 2021.
“The power station for the Beyondie SOP Project has now been commissioned and is ready to provide power for the process plant commissioning that is due to start in the next few weeks,” said Rudolph van Niekerk, Kalium CEO. “This milestone, combined with harvesting activities that are in full swing and an operations team that is ready for production, represents a major step forward and significantly de-risks the project in meeting its first production targets. Importantly, the Beyondie SOP Project remains on budget and on schedule to achieve first SOP sales next quarter.
“The SOP plant is also entering final stages of construction, with work fronts open to all disciplines, including electrical, instrumentation, and piping work,” van Niekerk continued. “Completion of the standard grade SOP plant is being prioritized and this will be closely followed by completion of the compaction plant, which use the standard SOP to produce granular will SOP.”
Kalium’s projected initial SOP production capacity is 90,000 mt/y of SOP. The company has a binding 10-year offtake agreement for Beyondie with Germany’s K+S Group for the purchase of up to 90,000 mt/y of SOP.