Junior sulfate of potash (SOP) producers Salt Lake Potash Ltd. (SO4), and Australian Potash Ltd. (APC), both based in Perth, Western Australia, said on Sept. 14 that they have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and Cooperation Agreement to undertake a joint study of the potential benefits of development cost sharing for each company’s project developments at Lake Wells.
Their Lake Wells holdings are contiguous and have recently been granted mining leases. The assets share many common infrastructure elements, including access roads, proximity to the Leonora rail terminals, and potential power and fresh water solutions. Both companies anticipate substantial potential Capex and Opex benefits from some level of infrastructure sharing, with further potential benefits arising from shared or common evaporation and salt processing facilities.
Both company projects will proceed independently in parallel with the study, with no impact on their respective timelines.
SO4’s scoping study, released in August 2016, indicated a staged development producing 200,000 mt/y to 400,000 mt/y on a fully ramped basis. APC’s scoping study released in March 2017 indicated a staged development producing 150,000 mt/y, rising to 300,000 mt/y of SOP from its stand-alone development.