TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – New Mexico-focused IC Potash (ICP), which is developing the Ochoa polyhalite potash project, on Wednesday said it had secured another 774.5 ha of land in Lea county, from the New Mexico state land office, increasing its total state lease and federal permit holdings in the region to about 41 075.5 ha spanning 410.7 km².

"Based on findings of our original drilling programme, the additional land granted by the state has been determined to be strategically important for our Ochoa project, as it holds prospective mineralisation that could expand Ochoa's already significant resource base of Polyhalite,” ICP CEO Sidney Himmel said in a statement.

The new lease also covers land located about 500 m from the planned mine shaft and ramp bottom, making it available for mining in the early production phase of the near century-long mine life.

Under the new agreement, ICP's state lease holdings would increase to nearly 11 331 ha and would generate up to $8-million or more for the state land office, depending on product pricing, leasing fees and royalties each year once ICP is in production at its planned sulphate of potash mine and processing facility.

Over 13-million acres of land granted to New Mexico in 1898 and 1910 are held in trust for the state's public schools and universities, as well as special schools and hospitals that serve children with physical, visual and auditory disabilities.

ICP's Ochoa project is located in the Pecos valley section of the southern Great Plains physiographic province, about 100 km east of Carlsbad, New Mexico, and less than 32 km west of the Texas/New Mexico state line.

The overall project development plan provides for completion of the feasibility study by the end of August, final environmental permitting by the end of March 2014, and the start of construction of the mine and processing facility shortly thereafter.

The company’s stock closed down 1.16% on the TSX at 85 Canadian cents apiece on Wednesday.