Potash development company Kore Potash has declared a maiden sylvinite mineral resource estimate for its Dougou extension deposit, at the flagship 97%-owned Sintoukola (Kola) potash project, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Sylvinite is a rock type comprised primarily of the potash mineral sylvite (KCI) and halite (NaCI).

Dougou has a measured and indicated mineral resources of 508-million tonnes, grading 35.4% KCI.

The Dougou extension mineral resource has the potential to provide an additional feed to increase the processing life at the planned Kola project, and/or to contribute to an increase in scale of the Kola project.

These options, the company explained, are planned to be assessed following the completion of the Kola definitive feasibility study.

The Dougou extension is the company's third potash deposit along with the Kola sylvinite deposit and the Dougou carnallite deposit. These deposits take Kore Potash's total sylvanite mineral resource to one-billion tonnes, with an average grade of 35.5% KCI.

Additionally, the total mineral resource of sylvanite at the Dougou extension was 232-million tonnes of sylvanite, grading 38.1% KCI.

The maiden indicated mineral resource at Dougou is 111-million tonnes of sylvanite, grading 37.2% KCI, and the maiden inferred mineral resource is 121-million tonnes, grading 38.9% KCI.

The deposit, the company said on Monday, is contained within two horizonal sylvanite streams, namely the Hangingwall Seam (HWS) and the Top Seam (TS), of which HWS is “very high-grade, and contains 67-million tonnes, grading 60.1% KCI”.

The sylvanite, Kore Potash explained, has extremely low amounts of insoluble material and magnesium, less than 0.3% and 0.1% respectively, which is advantageous for low-cost muriate of potash production.

According to CEO Brad Sampson, the maiden sylvanite mineral resources at the Dougou extension brings a third deposit within the company’s permits in the DRC, and “reinforces [the company’s] view that this new basin hosts large globally important, shallow, and high-grade potash deposits.

“We remain excited with the potential for these deposits to supply potash to African and international agrinutrient markets for multiple generations,” he commented.

Sampson further noted that, with the development of Kola as Kore Potash’s primary focus, the new deposit creates potential for sylvanite from the Dougou extension to be processed at the planned Kola facility and provides “more evidence that the start of production from this world-class basin will be a disruptive force in the fertiliser sector for decades to come”.