Name of the Project
Mackay sulphate of potash (SoP) project.

Location
The project is located 785 km south of the Port of Wyndham, in Western Australia.

Project Owner/s
Agrimin Limited.

Project Description
Agrimin’s flagship Mackay potash project is set to be the world’s lowest-cost SoP producer.

A definitive feasibility study (DFS) has shown the project to be a large, long-life, low-cost and expandable fertiliser asset.

The project’s ore reserves are hosted by the Lake Mackay deposit. It has proven and probable reserves of 20-million tonnes of SoP, plus 1.6-million tonnes from the inferred mineral resource, which is only a fraction of the total mineral resource of one-billion tonnes on a total porosity basis. The ore reserve is based on the extraction of only shallow brine resources using surface tranches and gravity flow.

The mine plan comprises the extraction of 21.6-million tonnes of SoP, based on an average brine extraction volume of 86 Gℓ/y and an average potassium grade of 2 820 mg/ℓ.

Brine will be extracted from Lake Mackay using trenches and transferred into on-lake solar evaporation ponds.

Raw potash salts will be fed directly to the processing plant from wet harvesters through pipelines.

The operation will have a 450 000 t/y production rate grading 52% potassium oxide, with an initial mine life estimated at 40 years.

The project includes a dedicated logistics chain and port facility to ensure the project’s scalability and long-term success.

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 $655-million and an internal rate of return of 21%, with a payback of 4.2 years.

Capital Expenditure
The project has a capital cost of $415-million.

Planned Start/End Date
SoP production is expected to start towards the end of 2023.

Latest Developments
Agrimin has signed a binding offtake agreement with global fertiliser trader Nitron for the supply of 115 000 t/y of SoP produced from the Mackay project.

The SoP will be distributed in Latin America, Mexico, the Caribbean and Africa under the seven-year agreement, with the offtake accounting for 25% of Agrimin’s planned SoP production capacity of 450 000 t/y.

“This is our second large-tonnage, long-term supply deal and it reiterates the considerable interest in Agrimin’s low-carbon, organic SoP product.

We have now committed 60% of our planned SoP production under long-term binding offtakes which meet the tenure requirements for project financing,” Agrimin CEO Mark Savich has stated.

Agrimin is finalising multiple workstreams and rapidly advancing the project to a final investment decision.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Advisian (lead engineer and study manager for the DFS); Hydrominex Geoscience and H&S Consultants (mineral resource); Knight Piésold (hydrogeological studies and civil and geotechnical work); Global Potash Solutions (process design); Saskatchewan Research Council (evaporation and process testwork); Qube Bulk (product logistics) and 360 Environmental and Strategen Environmental (environmental work).

Contact Details for Project Information
Agrimin Limited, tel +61 8 9389 5363 or email admin@agrimin.com.au.