Name of the Project
Kola potash project.

Location
The Kola project is located in the Kouilou province of Congo-Brazzaville.

Client
Kore Potash.

Project Description
The Kola project is one of the shallowest muriate of potash (MoP) deposits globally and one of the highest-grade undeveloped potash deposits globally.

The Kola definitive feasibility (DFS) proposes mining of the Kola sylvinite deposit, and the production of about 2.2-million tons a year of MoP over a 33-year mine life and its export.

The Kola orebody is planned to be mined using conventional underground mechanised methods, extracting the ore within ‘panels’, using continuous miner (CM) machines of the drum-cutting type. The mine design adopts a relatively typical layout including panels, comprising rooms and pillars.

Mine access will be provided by two vertical shafts, each 7m in diameter. The shafts will be sunk in the centre of the orebody. To provide access to the underground, the intake shaft will be equipped with a hoist and cage system for transportation of persons and material. The exhaust shaft will be equipped with a pocket lift conveyor system to continuously convey the mined-out ore to the surface. Both shafts are about 270 m deep. Mining equipment selected for the Kola project mine includes a fleet of six electrically powered CMs. Ore haulage from the CMs to the feeder breaker apron feeder will be done using electrically powered shuttle cars, with a rated payload of 30 t and a 250 m power supply cable.

Underground conveyor belts will be used for ore transportation in all the areas of the mine. The belt conveyors are distributed in the main and submain haulages and ultimately in the working panels near the CM working face. The ore will be placed on the belts from feeder breakers that are fed by the shuttle cars. Belt conveyors will carry the ore loaded by the feeder breakers to the ore bins. A conventional potash flotation plant has been designed for the project. The design strategy adopted delivers a process plant designed to produce 2.2-million tonnes a year of MoP at a potassium chloride grade of 95% and that will accommodate the variety of run-of-mine feedstock characteristics expected to be encountered during the life of the project.

The economic model is based on a 23-year mine life, based on ore reserves of 152.4-million tons and 9.7-million tons of inferred mineral resources, and an additional ten years (for a 33-year mine life) when the exploitation of a portion (70-million tonnes) of the inferred mineral resources is included.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an after-tax real net present value, at a 10% discount rate, of $1.45-billion and a real ungeared internal rate of return of 17%, with a 4.3-year payback from first production.

Value
Preproduction capital is estimated at $2.1-billion on an engineering, procurement and construction management basis.

Duration
The project has 46-month construction period, with a start date to be determined following advancement of construction contract negotiations and project financing.

Latest Developments
None stated.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Technip France, Vinci Construction Grands Projets, Egis International and Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (DFS); Met-Chem DRA Global and AMC Consulting (specialist subconsulting); Met-Chem DRA Global (mineral resource estimate); SRK Consulting (environmental- and social-impact assessment); and Jukes Todd, Hatch and Wood (reviews of the final draft DFS).

On Budget and on Time?
Too early to state.

Contact Details for Project Information
Kore Potash, tel +27 11460 9140.
Tavistock on behalf of Kore Potash, tel +44207920 3150 or email kore@tavistock.co.uk.