Aim-listed Kore Potash continues to progress with the development of its Kola and DX projects in the Sintoukola basin of Congo-Brazzaville.

Some highlights of the six months ended June 30 include the company successfully raising $14-million through equity financing in April, as well as Kore signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Summit Africa, on behalf of a consortium of investors and engineering firms.

The agreement included Summit and its technical partner Sepco Electric Power Construction Corporation undertaking an optimisation study to reduce the Kola project’s capital cost to less than $1.65-billion.

The MoU also included a proposed financing structure, whereby Kore will not be required to contribute to the capital needed to build the Kola project, but still retain a 90% equity interest in the Kola project.

The Summit consortium is expected to provide an interim report by the end of September and is obligated to complete the optimisation study by January 29, 2022.

Meanwhile, Kore during the period under review, completed a Phase 1 exploration programme on the DX project, to inform a definitive feasibility study. The company has advised that the work, including the drilling of seven diamond drill holes and geochemical testing, was completed on budget.

Kore has not started work on developing an improved geological model for the DX project that incorporates all recent drilling information. This should be published before the end of the year, and it may result in a re-estimation of the DX mineral resources.

As at June 30, Kore had cash and cash equivalents on hand of $14.1-million, while it spent almost $4-million on exploration and evaluation in the reporting period.

The company says it has not renewed the Sintoukola 2 exploration permit in order to focus on the development of the Kore and DX projects.