PERTH (miningweekly.com) – A debottlenecking style review of the Beyondie sulphate of potash (SoP) project, in Western Australia, has confirmed that the project could produce at a steady state of some 100 000 t/y, owner Kalium Lakes said on Wednesday.
The company told shareholders that the steady state production of at least 100 000 t/y of SoP was achievable due to better-than-expected potassium grades in brines that would improve the quality of the plant feed salts, improvements in the forecast availability and use of the SoP purification plant, and conservatism in the plant design.
Beyondie was initially expected to produce at a rate of 90 000 t/y, and would ramp up to 180 000 t/y incrementally.
CEO Rudolph van Niekerk on Wednesday said that Kalium Lakes was confident that a production increase to 120 000 t/y could be achieved without the need for substantial plant modifications, and was currently examining pathways to deliver this outcome.
“Previous work has confirmed the embedded optionality in Beyondie’s enormous resource endowment. The current resource would support 400 000 t/y of SoP production for more than 20 years and, consistent with our strategy to be a growth company, the company is considering how best to leverage this asset and maximise value for shareholders,” Van Niekerk said.