COMMODITY SPOTLIGHT
IT’S A MARATHON NOT A SPRINT SEVERAL RESILIENT AND AMBITIOUS MINING COMPANIES HAVE HELPED THE AUSTRALIAN POTASH INDUSTRY STEADILY MATERIALISE, AND IT’S NOW POISED TO ATTRACT CONSIDERABLE DEMAND IN COMING YEARS.
BCI IS ARMED WITH $1.2 BILLION TO ELEVATE MARDIE.
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ustralia’s potash industry is wearing a few bruises, but it’s now moving in a positive direction. Australia’s future potash producers have forged ahead after investor sentiment cooled in the wake of last year’s Salt Lake Potash capitulation. Salt Lake, which was developing the Lake Way sulphate of potash (SOP) project in Western Australia, went into receivership in October 2021, owing $US127 million ($179 million) to secured creditors. But it’s a marathon not a sprint when it comes to developing an SOP project, something Australian Potash recognises. In 2014, the company first found its Lake Wells project in WA to be rich with potassium and
sulphat, and has been honing the operation ever since. Australian Potash chief executive officer Matt Shackleton said his company was working to overcome some industry malaise through honesty and good judgement following what he called some “overly ambitious” initial timelines for the sector. Shackleton says a potash project needs to be approached and developed on its merits. “The reality of these projects is that, if developed properly, they will last for several generations – these are very long-lived projects,” he told Australian Mining. “They, however, do take some time to develop … and that’s a difficult thing to tell the market, particularly when the market’s AUSTRALIANMINING
been told that SOP projects only take a year to develop and a year to get going.” An important ingredient in plant fertiliser, potash enjoys most of its trade in the agriculture industry. Potash fertiliser increases the pH in soil, which allows for more crops to grow, and ever-increasing global populations mean more crops must be harvested for consumption. Canada, Russia and Belarus are currently the biggest producers of muriate of potash (MOP), while China is the biggest producer of SOP. SOP is considered superior to MOP as it does not contain chloride, which affects plant yields and can be toxic on food plants. SOP also has a lower salinity level, which improves plants’ ability to absorb water and
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soil nutrients, therefore improving the crop quality and yield. Australia’s potash industry has its sights set on SOP and will look to produce this through a more sustainable method than the resource-intensive Mannheim process used largely in China. Aspiring Australian developers aim to extract SOP from brine in salt lakes, through solar evaporation and/ or chemical methods. Australian Potash’s Lake Wells project is based on a 30-year mine life and has the potential to produce approximately 170,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of SOP. If the company can continue to hit its funding and development targets, it hopes to sell the first batch of Lake Wells SOP into the Australian farming market in 2024.
