TSX-V-listed Buffalo Potash Corporation has laid out a roadmap to production, starting with its initial production module at the flagship Disley property, in Saskatchewan.

The initial production module facility is the first of three planned solution mining facilities at Disley, with a design capacity of 125 000 t/y of soluble-grade potash. The company is targeting first production in the first quarter of next year.

Notably, the initial production module has a lower capital expenditure requirement compared to the full Disley project build-out. At full build-out, including the initial production module and and two 500 000 t/y mines at Disley East and Disley West, the Disley project will produce up to 1.12-million tonnes a year of potash.

On a standalone basis, the initial production module has a payback period of 12 months from the start of production. The company will still advance a feasibility study on the full Disley build-out.

Buffalo Potash CEO Steve Halabura says following the company's recent oversubscribed private placement the company has significant balance sheet strength to advance the initial production module as the foundation for the larger build-out across the Disley project.

"The initial production module will establish early commercial production, generate well data that will support a feasibility study for Disley East and West, and demonstrate our patented Horizontal Line-Drive mining method at commercial scale.

"We anticipate the initial production module will produce soluble-grade potash that we intend to sell to local markets for early revenue as we advance towards full commercial scale at Disley. With the drill rig mobilising to site in July and first production targeted for the first quarter next year, the months ahead will be the most active in the company's history," Halabura explains.

INITIAL PRODUCTION PROCESS

The initial production module build will comprise source and disposal wells, Horizontal Line-Drive drilling, brine circulation, site development and surface processing.

The first phase consists of drilling two vertical wells. The first well is anticipated to produce brackish water from the Mannville Formation, which will comprise the source well, which is then anticipated to be saturated with sodium chloride for the solvent used in Buffalo's solution mining method.

The second well will be used to dispose of excess brine, in the Deadwood Formation, after it has been processed at surface.

While both wells serve an ongoing operational role for the initial production module, they will also be cored and logged through the potash-bearing members of the Prairie Evaporite Formation, further enhancing geological understanding of the site and providing data that will inform the feasibility study for the larger build-out of Disley East and Disley West.

Buffalo will then drill three horizontal wells from a single pad: a central well for brine injection and two parallel wells on either side for brine collection, each with a horizontal leg of about 500 m to 600 m positioned at the base of an identified high-grade potash seam. Together, these wells form the initial underground infrastructure for the initial production module and will be used to develop the solution mining plane.

Multi-stage packers will be set along each horizontal well, creating a series of isolated injection and collection points that allow the company to evenly distribute brine and control pressure across the mining plane as brine from the source well is dispersed throughout the high-grade potash seam.

Brackish water sourced from the Mannville Formation will be brought to surface through the source well before being saturated with sodium chloride and pumped down the injection well to the production wells, thereby creating the mining plane. Once the mining plane has been established, the brine selectively dissolves only the potassium-bearing mineral sylvite - sodium is left behind in the mining plane while the brine is progressively enriched in potassium chloride (KCl). The resulting KCl-rich brine is recovered through the production wells and delivered to surface for processing.

In parallel, Buffalo will complete surface development of the initial production site. The site will be winterised for year-round operation, with insulated buildings housing the injection pumps, crystallisers, and related processing equipment, protective enclosures over the wellheads, and a storage building for finished product.

The final phase is the installation and commissioning of the initial production module's processing plant. KCl-rich brine recovered from the production wells will be processed through a two-stage cooling crystallisation circuit, with the resulting KCl crystals then centrifuged, dried, and bagged for shipment.

The plant is being designed to produce up to 125 000 t/y of soluble-grade potash, in addition to local sales of KCl-rich brine. Buffalo is also evaluating a Vortex Crystalliser for the initial production module, which offers the potential for reduced capital and operating costs and may be tested during operation of the module.