Name of the Project
Kola potash project.

Location
Kouilou province, Congo-Brazzaville.

Project Owner/s
Potash development company Kore Potash (97%).

Project Description
Globally, the Kola project is not only one of the shallowest muriate of potash (MoP) deposits but also one of the highest-grade undeveloped potash deposits.

The Kola definitive feasibility study (DFS) proposes mining of the Kola sylvinite, 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 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 7 m in diameter. The shafts will be sunk in the centre of the orebody. To provide access underground, the intake shaft will be equipped with a hoist and cage system for the 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.

Underground conveyor belts will be used for ore transportation in all areas of the mine. The belt conveyors are distributed in the main and submain haulages and, ultimately, in the working panels near the continuous miner 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. The ore is then conveyed from the ore bins to the pocket lift system in the exhaust shaft.

Ore from underground will be transported to the process plant by a 35-km-long overland conveyor.

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 to accommodate the variety of run-of-mine feedstock characteristics expected 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 of the inferred mineral resources (70-million tonnes) 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-million and a real ungeared internal rate of return of 17%, with a 4.3-year payback from first production.

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

Planned Start/End Date
The project has a 46-month construction period, with a start date to be determined following the advancement of construction contract negotiations and project financing.

Latest Developments
Kore Potash and the Summit Consortium have signed an enhancement agreement for the Kola potash project on terms congruent with the memorandum of understanding (MoU) announced by Kore in April.

Thus far, Kore reports that the key engineering partner of the Summit Consortium, Sepco Electric Power Construction Corporation, with its subcontractor, China ENFI Engineering Corporation, has started work on the enhancement study for the Kola project.

During the second quarter of the year, representatives of Sepco and Kore met with Congo-Brazzaville Mines Minister Martin Kabwelulu and his staff, following which a site inspection was conducted at the Kola project with an ENFI representative and delegates from the Ministry of Mines.

The study is considering capital cost reduction initiatives in most of the project areas, including mine design, underground access, material transportation system, processing plant design and location, key infrastructure design and marine facilities.

The enhancement agreement requires that Summit Consortium provide an interim report by the end of September and complete the study by January 29, 2022.

Kore CEO Brad Sampson has said that Sepco is committed to completing the study within the same timeframe contemplated in the MoU.

“Successful completion of the study will potentially lead to [Kore’s] receiving, in the first half of 2022, a binding engineering, procurement and construction contract, and financing proposal, from Summit Consortium to fully finance the construction of Kola,” he says.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
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).

Contact Details for Project Information
Kore Potash, tel +27 11 460 9140.
Tavistock, on behalf of Kore Potash, tel +44 207 920 3150 or email kore@tavistock.co.uk.