PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The sulphate of potash (SoP) purification plant at the Beyondie mine, in Western Australia, has been restarted.
ASX-listed Kalium Lakes in August performed a planned shutdown at the plant for further optimisation and rectification works, which included a focus on the flotation circuit where opportunities had been identified to further improve the recovery of schoenite.
“We are pleased to advise of the restart of the SOP purification plant at Beyondie, following on-schedule completion of the planned rectification and optimisation works undertaken over the past weeks,” said Kalium Lakes CEO Len Jubber.
“Following a brief period of testing and density build-up, the plant will be transitioned to design grade kainite-type mixed salts (KTMS) feed and we will set about delivering the targeted ramp-up in SoP output from the Beyondie operation. The entire Kalium team has worked steadfastly towards delivering the business to this ramp-up ready position, we now look forward to delivery of the promise that the Beyondie mine offers to Kalium shareholders.”
Beyondie is expected to be operating at an approximate 80 000 t/y SoP production run rate by the first quarter of 2023, with the targeted 120 000 t/y run rate established by the third quarter of 2024.
Further incremental plant optimisation, including additional pump upgrades and installation of a heat exchanger to allow improved operation during summer, will take place as scheduled alongside normal plant operations over coming months.