Name of the Project
Khemisset potash project.

Location
Northern Morocco.

Project Owner/s
Potash developer Emmerson PLC.

Project Description
A feasibility study completed in June 2020 confirmed Khemisset as a world-class, low capital cost, high-margin potash mine.

The project will have a year run-of-mine extraction rate of six-million tonnes a year.

At full production, Khemisset could produce 810 000 t/y of muriate of potash and one-million tonnes a year of de-icing salt over an initial 19-year mine life.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an after-tax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $1.4-billion and an internal rate of return of 38.5%, with a payback of 2.6 years.

Capital Expenditure
Khemisset has demonstrated an incredibly low preproduction capital cost of $387-million.

Planned Start/End Date
The project can be built over two years.

Latest Developments
The development and financing of the Khemisset potash project continued to make steady progress in the second quarter, the company said on July 11.

Exploration work has led to cost-effective construction options being discovered, while the portal and decline location has been updated, which is expected to deliver technical benefits and capital expenditure savings.

All key infrastructure locations for the mine have been established following the successful completion of geotechnical drilling and additional electrical resistance tomography (ERT) surveys, Emmerson has said.

The further drilling of deep holes has been supplemented by directional drilling and four additional ERT surveys. The deeper drill holes have the dual purpose of further understanding the lithography around the declines to assist in finalising the precise siting for key infrastructure to take advantage of the most competent ground conditions.

One of the holes has been extended to provide detailed data to feed into the design of the deep well injection for some of the process tailings. 

The 8 km of ERT surveys cover the tailings storage facility and mining infrastructure areas  for the best possible understanding of rock competence for foundations.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Golder Associates (feasibility study), including Moroccan Salts (consultant and resource geologists); Global Potash Solutions and Barr Associates (processing design); Barr Associates (engineering package for the mineral processing facility); Reminex (balance of the basic engineering package); Reminex and BBA (due diligence on design assurance, operational readiness and risk management); and DeltaBEC (project infrastructure).

Contact Details for Project Information
Emmerson PLC, tel +44 207 236 1177.