Junior miner Kore Potash Plc reported on Oct. 19 that a subsidiary received a letter dated Oct. 12 from the Republic of Congo’s (ROC) Minister of Mines expressing his discontent with aspects of the administration of the company’s subsidiaries in the ROC and the apparent lack of progress that Kore and the Summit Consortium are making towards financing the Kola Project in the ROC’s Sintoukola Basin.
Kore, which is based in London and has a 97% ownership of the Kola and DX Potash Projects in the ROC, said the letter was received following the arrest and subsequent release without charge of two senior employees of the company by the Congolese police. It said neither the employees nor the company have been informed of the reason for the arrests.
The minster also expressed disappointment with the speed of the project in 2020 (GM Dec. 18, 2020). Kore said the recent letter reserves the government’s right to take measures in accordance with its existing agreements and the ROC’s Mining Code, failing a response from the company within 30 days. The company intends to formally respond to the minister’s letter within the 30-day period.
The minister’s letter followed Kore’s Oct. 10 announcement that while it has received an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) agreement from SEPCO Electric Power Construction Corp. (GM July 1, p. 30), Kore said the EPC’s proposed contractual terms now require further discussion before acceptance. Kore said any changes to the EPC may have to go back to SEPCO and its parent, Power Construction Corp. of China, for approval before the EPC can be finalized.
Kore said that the Summit Consortium, which has signed a nonbinding MOU for the financing of the full construction costs of the project (GM April 9, 2021), remains committed to the financing and is currently awaiting Kore and SEPCO’s finalization of the EPC contract prior to financing the project.
The capital cost to construct Kola is estimated at $1.83 billion, with a construction period of 40 months, according to Kore. The project, which is to be designed and constructed as a conventional underground potash mine and processing plant, will have capacity to produce 2.2 million mt/y of granular potash over an initial 31 year life. The granular potash produced will be at a minimum quality of 95.3% KCl in line with international standards.