Name and Location
Cerrado Verde potash project, Minas Gerais state, Brazil.

Client
Verde Potash.

Project Description
On February 28, 2012, Verde published a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for the Cerrado Verde project, focusing on potassium chloride production.

The PEA structured the project in three phases:
Phase 1 – 600 000 t of potassium chloride production;
Phase 2 – an incremental one-million tonnes of potassium chloride production; and
Phase 3 – an incremental 1.4-million tonnes of potassium production.

The planned total plant capacity at the conclusion of Phase 3 was three-million tonnes of potassium chloride production.

With Verde’s new strategic plan, the project will be developed in two stages.
In Phase 1, the company intends to build a plant – the Flex plant – with capacity for production of about 1 000 t/d of ThermoPotash.

The Flex plant will also process potassium chloride to further develop scale-up and commercialisation of the process to secure performance guarantees on a 12 000 t/d kiln for potassium chloride production.

Phase 2 will be developed simultaneously with Phase 1 and will focus on large-scale potassium chloride production.

This two-phased strategy expects to reduce upfront capital expenditure by initially establishing the less-capital-intensive ThermoPotash product.

Value
Not stated.

Duration
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Verde and its engineering partners are moving forward with a Flex plant design for Phase 1. The proposed Flex plant will have a capacity of about 1 000 t/d and the capability to produce ThermoPotash and run the pyro stage of a potassium production route.

The successful operation of the pyro stage of potassium chloride production aims to obtain the desired performance guarantees for Phase 2.

By ramping up production with ThermoPotash in Phase 1, the company expects a lower initial capital cost, compared with the previous strategy to go directly to a large-scale production facility; cash generation from the sale of ThermoPotash; and a reduction in the scale-up risk of potassium chloride production from its potassium silicate resource.

A prefeasibility study for Verde’s Phase 1 and Phase 2 strategic plan is expected to be published in the first in first quarter of 2014.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Too early to state.

Contact Details for Project Information
Verde Potash VP for corporate development Jaret Anderson, tel +1 416 866 2966 ext 223,
fax +1 416 866 8829 or email ja@verdepotash.com.